Berlin: When Morning Comes
by SAWild
Summary: Based on Spoilers for upcoming episode "Berlin" Season 10. Tony and Ziva are in Berlin to avenge her father's death. When the walls come down after a night of dancing... TIVA ...Okay, Your enthusiasm for the story has won you additional chapters! How many I don't know yet.LOL Thank you!
1. Chapter 1

**I just ****_HAD_**** to after the spoilers for the upcoming episode "Berlin." -Wild ;)**

**Written to "Just Give Me a Reason" feat Nate Ruess by Pink for those who like to listen as you read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or their characters. I just borrow them from time to time.**

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*******_Just Give Me a Reason_**

Berlin-

Tony felt the rustling of the sheets next to him and slowly opened his eyes. Her long dark mane of wispy curls danced delicately over naked flesh and he gulped at the glimpses of her various curves as she sat on the edge of the bed; the swells of her breasts, the dip in her spine and those dimples, _God those dimples _staring him right in the face now just a foot from her on his side of the bed. His mind and body were instantly bombarded with flashes from the night before. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the touch, the taste…_the freedom_. One night of dancing in each others arms and all the walls had finally come down. What began on the dance floor continued in their hotel room and the dawn had come too early, breaking the spell.

Ziva's eyes flashed back over her shoulder realizing he was awake and for a second held and then looked away. She reached for whatever was nearest to cover up and pulled Tony's white dress shirt from the rumpled mess of clothing littering the floor beside the bed.

"Are we going to talk about what happened last night?" Tony asked swallowing hard and pulling the sheet up a little to cover his lower half more. He was feeling self-conscious and unable to hide his desire for her this early in the morning. The scent of sex was still so heavily in the air and on his skin and lingering in his mouth. His tongue darted out briefly to feel his bruised lips from her intense and passionate kiss. He pulled himself up enough to roll slightly on his side and prop himself up on one elbow to look at her.

"What is there to talk about?" Ziva asked him quietly without looking at him as she slipped into his shirt, threading each arm into a sleeve and then swooping her gorgeous long tendrils out from beneath the fabric and setting them free once more.

Tony managed to swallow the groan in his throat watching her movement and seeing the last of her naked body before him as she stood and the shirt fell over her thighs, hiding everything else from his view. He could see that she was retreating with the light of day.

"I think there is a lot to talk about, Ziva." He began quietly staring at her form beside the bed while she finished with the buttons and knelt down picking up her discarded clothing from the evening before, torn off in the throes of passion. "Don't you?" He was nervous about what this meant now, this change in their relationship. He'd hoped it would send them off into the right direction, finally with both admitting at least with actions how they felt towards one another even if they couldn't say it yet with words.

"This is not a good time, Tony." She shook her head with a soft sigh, still refusing to meet his eyes and thinking about catching her father's killer.

"So you regret what happened between us last night?" Tony asked trying to mask the hurt in his tone.

"I never said that." Her eyes finally caught his as her head immediately whipped in his direction from where she was kneeling down beside the bed.

It was then that Tony could see the unshed tears glistening there with held back emotion, that yes, last night meant something to her too.

"I'm tired of pretending, Ziva." He held her gaze and spoke quietly hoping she could see how much last night meant to him as well.

"I'm tired of pretending, too." She answered him in barely above a whisper and a single tear finally escaped beneath her lashes as she closed her eyes briefly and then looked away, standing but not moving.

"When this is over with Bodnar... We are going to talk about this." Tony swallowed hard with eyes roaming up her incredibly beautiful form, wearing nothing but his dress shirt. His breath hitched at how much he wanted her, even more now that he'd had her. "No more pretending. No more retreating. Not this time, Ziva." He understood why this wasn't a perfect time to be discussing this given they were going to avenge her father's death today; but he also wasn't going to let this chance slip away from them again. They'd done that before.

"When this is over." Ziva repeated quietly, flashing her eyes back to his and holding fast with a small head nod. "No more pretending…no more retreating. I promise, Tony." The briefest of smiles flashed across her face with the falling of another tear and she quickly wiped it away. "I'm going to use the bathroom first. Then it is all yours." She moved quickly towards the bathroom across the room and Tony watched her go. When the door shut behind her, he fell back down against his pillows.

"No more pretending. No more retreating." He repeated out loud quietly to himself staring at the ceiling with a slow smile spreading across his face. "I promise too, Ziva."


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: **_**Music for this Chapter (on repeat): _Wicked Game_ by Phillip Phillips.**

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"I have an idea." Ducky smiled softly looking around the autopsy table at his co-conspirators.

A Federal Trial was imminent with the case against Ziva. She had gone after Bodnar with Tony across Europe and was now facing several charges ranging for Disorderly Conduct to Espionage and Treason. Illan Bodnar, as it turned out, was working for the CIA. By killing him in revenge for her father's death, Ziva had unknowingly crossed the blurry line between foreign and domestic interests. A Federal witch-hunt was launched and she had become the target; the one chosen to take the fall in the interests of national security in keeping the CIA's ties with Bodnar and Eli David's assassination a secret. Eli had become too much a rogue figure on the international stage, working secretly with Kazmi to forge peace with the Iranians. Time was running out with ways to help Ziva before the proceedings began.

_***Wicked Game***_

Tony was the only witness to know how she had disposed of Bodnar and would be called to testify against her for the Prosecution. His testimony could potentially condemn Ziva to Death or at the very least, Life in Prison if convicted.

"Anthony could Plead the Fifth." Ducky smiled at the anxious looking faces before him. Abby was chewing on her nails, Palmer was sweating, Gibbs, McGee and Ziva all had their arms wrapped over their chests while Tony had laced his fingers tightly behind his neck, leaning his head back with a solemn look on his face. Ziva's life was going to be in his hands and they were desperately trying to find a way around it.

"Pleading the Fifth." McGee repeated with narrowed eyebrow. "How Ducky? To Plead the Fifth Amendment is to invoke the right not to incriminate your self in a trial."

"Or your spouse." Gibbs added quietly with a raised eyebrow, brushing his finger over his lips following Ducky's line of thinking.

"Precisely, Jethro." Ducky smiled more widely looking from Gibbs to Ziva and Tony who both appeared to be confused. "If Anthony and Ziva are married, under the law, he can invoke his right to _Plead the Fifth_ and not incriminate his wife."

Tony and Ziva's eyes both widened looking at each other and then quickly away with hearts already pounding. They still had yet to discuss the night they'd spent together in Berlin; to speak of all those things they were 'tired of pretending' about. After finding and killing Bodnar, everything in their lives had snowballed rapidly out of control and left them no time alone to even broach the subject. Every time their eyes met now, a silent communication was sent and received about that night and how they felt for each other and what still lingered in the air between them.

"One small problem there, Ducky. We're not married." Tony chuckled nervously trying to avoid Ziva's gaze and calm his pounding heart. "I can't Plead the Fifth to protect Ziva if she's not my wife."

"But she could be." Ducky smiled at them both. He'd noticed a change between the two since their return from Berlin. Something had happened between them on that trip that had nothing to do with Illan Bodnar's death. From a psychological standpoint, Ducky had noticed rather stark differences between the two. Before they'd left, Tony and Ziva's body language was loose and free. They'd often stand so close to each other they were touching. These were expressions of intimacy they conveyed through their body language that they could not express verbally. The soft touches and smiles had all but disappeared from their interaction and features when looking directly at each other now. Instead of the flirty and often flippant responses that had come so easily from them both before, silence often hung in the air between intense stares as though they were having a secret conversation and the only two in the room. Everyone had taken notice of the change though no one said anything given the serious nature of the situation they had all found themselves in, especially Ziva.

"Are you suggesting they get married, Duck?" Gibbs asked quietly eyeing his agents from the corner of his vision.

Like Ducky, he'd carefully studied Tony and Ziva's change in behavior upon their return from Berlin. Something had certainly changed between the partners and he was fairly certain he'd had a good idea what caused it. His own mind had flashed back to the change between himself and Jenny after their mission in Paris. Watching Tony and Ziva now, he could see the anxiety and tension lingering in the air at the weight of the situation they were now faced with coupled with how they really felt for one another and their lives being in each other's hands.

Gibbs was sick that he'd let it get this far. That Ziva was now in such grave danger and his team was being torn apart, leaving them to conspire in the morgue as the only safe place to discuss drastic measures for her continued freedom. He had successfully evaded prosecution for his own act of revenge against the man who had taken his wife and child. When Ziva had come to him with her plan, he said nothing to discourage her. In fact, he encouraged her understanding her thirst for blood and sent Tony along as backup. He had been lucky that his own act of revenge had not stolen his future. Ziva was not so fortunate. She now stood to lose everything.

"It may be the only way, Jethro." Ducky answered him solemnly seeing the look in Ziva's eyes.

"No, there has to be another way." Ziva shook her head staring at the floor and speaking quietly. Her arms were wrapping more tightly around her chest with the vulnerability she now felt in this situation. "Tony should not be forced to marry me as the only means of maintaining his silence."

"Who says I would be forced into marrying you?" Tony asked immediately with narrowing eyes as he stared at her. Ziva's eyes flashed up to meet his and held once more in a long and silent stare as if they were the only ones in the room. "I am capable of making my own decisions. I chose to go to Berlin with you. I chose to help you get rid of Bodnar. I have not been forced into anything." His voice was soft and trailed off in the end and they both knew exactly what he was speaking of... Berlin, and making love long into the night. Tony had made the first move by first asking her to dance at the club and then dropping a light kiss to Ziva's lips when the song ended. When he let it linger, Ziva had deepened the kiss and one thing had led to another ending with them in bed together, naked and no longer denying their feelings for each other with the actions of their bodies and the intensity of their gazes. What their mouths could not say, their bodies had clearly conveyed.

"Tony, this is different." Ziva shook her head softly willing herself to keep her emotions at bay. He had a way of bringing them out of her and as her eyes flashed around the room she remembered they were not alone. "This is something that cannot be taken lightly."

"Your life is on the line, Ziva. No one is taking this lightly." Tony argued back quietly. Ziva was retreating once more inside of herself. "You are not alone." He added quietly and saw the spark of recollection in her memory from that night at the airport.

"Perhaps, we should leave the two of you alone to discuss this matter in private." Ducky raised his eyebrows glancing at the others and signaling that they should give Tony and Ziva a moment alone to speak. The tension between the two was palpable. Quietly he ushered the others out of the autopsy room leaving Tony and Ziva standing alone on opposite sides of the cold metal table.

Tony looked a Ziva a long moment as she stare at the floor. He nodded once to himself and walked towards Ducky's desk, shuffling around in the bottom drawer he retrieved the bottle of alcohol he knew would be in there. With the clink of the glasses he held in his hand Ziva finally looked up to meet his eyes and he smiled. "Thought we could both use a drink." He set the small glasses on the table and poured generously into each glass. "To marriage!" He lifted his glass into the air with a wide smile trying to ease the tension. "And Pleading the Fifth!"

"Tony," Ziva sighed shaking her head not amused this time by his attempts at humoring her. "We cannot do this."

"What's wrong, Ziva? Is the thought of being married to me really that horrifying to you?" Tony asked trying to sound as though he were teasing with his smile but the hurt was also evident in his tone. "I don't think I'm that bad." He added and took a large swig of the amber liquid.

"No. That's not it. You aren't." She shook her head looking away again and staring down into the untouched tumbler of liquor. The tears in her eyes were back again and she was furiously trying to blink them back. Tony had a way of breaking through her walls and letting her feel safe enough to show her emotions when she was upset about others. But this time, the emotions she was trying desperately to hide were about him.

"Then what is it? You don't want to marry me?" Tony asked quietly setting his glass down.

"Not like this." Ziva answered in nearly a whisper and finally looked up at him. "Not... like this." She admitted and let him see what she meant by that with soul wide open and staring into his green eyes.

Tony swallowed hard at hearing and seeing her truth. What she wasn't saying and was saying all at once with that one declaration. He needed her to clarify. "What does that mean, Ziva?"

"You know what that means, Tony." Ziva answered through shaking breath and reached for the amber liquid taking a long sip with shaking hand.

"I need you to tell me what that means, Ziva. We have left far too much open for interpretation over the years. Now is not the time to be vague." Tony saw her hand shaking as she set the glass down and felt his own breath coming now in ragged soft pants. Her life was on the line and so were their hearts.

"It means that I do not want you to marry me under forced circumstances, Tony." Ziva answered inhaling a long breath trying to steady herself.

"And if they weren't forced?" Tony hedged quietly trying to find her eyes again and latched on when her beautiful brown depths found his once more with his question.

"But they are." Ziva answered with nearly a whisper again.

"Answer the question, Ziva." Tony's eyes bore into hers. He wasn't letting her retreat this time.

"You would not be asking the question unless it were forced, Tony." Ziva answered him looking away again and a single tear slid down her cheek. Quickly she brushed it away and turned her back to him, willing her tears to subside and not wanting to show this perceived weakness to him.

Tony's heart sank as he looked at her across the table. Quietly he moved to the other side and leaned back against the table with his shoulder touching hers.'

"Maybe I wouldn't be asking the question right now…but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be asking it someday." He spoke quietly thinking about asking Ziva to marry him. "I meant what I said in Berlin. I am tired of pretending." And he was. Pretending was too taxing on his heart and soul and it was taking too much effort to continuously deny the truth that he was in love with Ziva and had been for some time. Berlin had brought everything into sharp focus. Alone in another world, their lives were in each other's hands every day and then that one fateful night.

"I meant what I said, too." Ziva sighed softly and looked down at her folded arms over her chest, swaying slightly into Tony's body beside hers and taking comfort in his presence. "I am tired of pretending."

"You promised when it was over with Bodnar, we would talk." Tony reminded her gently finding comfort in their bodily contact once more as well. He'd missed even the simplest of touches from her in the previous days of chaos.

"This is not a good time, Tony." Ziva shook her head staring at the floor once more and thinking of all that loomed before them.

"There has never been a better time, Ziva. Everything is on the line right now." Tony swallowed the dry lump in his throat realizing how many things that statement actually encompassed with lives and hearts and futures. "No more retreating, remember?"

"What do you want me to say, Tony?" She asked with voice rising and shaking as she tried to swallow her own emotions getting the best of her. He was constantly pushing expecting her to open her heart when he was still not willing to reveal his own truths to her first. Both were terrified of taking the leap.

"What are you tired of pretending, Ziva?" Tony asked with heart starting to thunder in his ears at hearing the emotion in her voice. Ziva pushed off the table away from him when her emotions were getting the best of her at his question.

"_You know!_" Ziva wheeled around with fire in her glistening brown eyes and anger in her tone that he was making her say it.

"Know _what_?" Tony pushed her further stepping towards her from the table.

"That I _don't_ love you!" Ziva answered quickly and inhaled a sob, choking on the truth. "I've always loved you." She cried softly finally letting her tears fall in silent streams down her cheeks staring into his green eyes. "For _years_ I have loved you."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tony asked with his own voice cracking under the emotion he was trying to hold back while looking into her eyes. His heart was racing to hear her finally say those words and to hear her admission of how long she'd felt this way.

"You were in love with someone else." Ziva answered quietly with voice and body shaking slightly at the memory of when she first realized how much she loved him.

"Jeanne." Tony sighed quietly in realization and watched Ziva's eyes fall shut squeezing out more tears beneath her lashes before the slight head nod of acknowledgement. His mind raced with the memories from that time and Ziva's behavior and actions towards him then. "You should have said something." He added in a near whisper wishing things were different.

"You did not feel the same." Ziva shook her head and angrily wiped back the tears. Her voice finding its edge once more as she fought back her emotions.

Tony pursed his lips tightly unable to argue with her assessment. Even if he had been falling in love with Ziva then, he certainly wasn't ready to acknowledge it. "You moved on." He responded with visions of Michael and then Ray flashing before his eyes.

"As did you." Ziva countered with a raised eyebrow remembering well his relationships with other women, including E.J. She knew he was hurt but did not appreciate the accusatory tone when he'd done the same thing.

"It didn't change how I felt about you." Tony answered her quietly feeling his heart squeezing painfully at the look of hurt in her eyes over his relationships with other women. He'd seen it before but had steadfastly ignored it in their mutual efforts to pretend what was between them did not exist.

"And how did you feel about me, Tony?" Ziva asked boldly but quietly. He had yet to respond at all to her declaration of feelings with any of his own.

"The same way I do now." Tony answered taking another step forward staring deeply into her eyes. His hand slid around her side to the small of her back and holding her more closely; he reached his free hand up to cup her face and thumb away her tears. "I'm tired of pretending… that I _don't_ love you, too." His face was mere inches from hers as he spoke and heard the small intake of breath from her at his admission. "I've been falling in love with you more every day since the moment we met, Ziva David. I'm done pretending… that I am not madly in love with you." His voice was a near whisper as he stared into her beautiful eyes and dipped his lips to capture hers in a sweet kiss.

The moment his soft lips landed on hers, Ziva swallowed her cry and tangled her fingers into his hair pulling him closer and deepening the kiss eliciting a soft moan from Tony as well. They had both missed the intimate contact desperately after just one night spent in each other's arms. With the pressing need for air, they separated resting their foreheads against one another. Their arms were still wrapped around each other's bodies holding onto one another in a comforting embrace.

"What now, Tony?" Ziva asked quietly moving her head to rest against his chest and just beneath his chin when Tony pulled her more closely to him; wrapping her tightly in his arms to comfort them both. She was still staring down an ominous future with the trial hovering over their heads like the _Sword of Damocles_.

"I don't know, Ziva." Tony answered her honestly holding her more tightly if possible, afraid to let her go, afraid to lose her now that he had her so close. He remembered standing in this very room with Ziva years ago after Director Shepard had died. The conversation they'd had over a similar bottle of whiskey taken from Ducky's drawer. Tony had commented on the solitary life that Jenny had led; that she had died alone. Ziva responded to his comment that night with, '_we are all alone_.' His face brushed gently against her soft hair tucking her more tightly under his chin and against his chest, wanting to remind them both that those words were not true for Ziva. She wasn't alone. He would be with her no matter what happened in the coming days. "At lo levad, Ziva. At lo levad." Tony whispered.

Ziva's eyes flushed with new tears as a slow smile spread across her face. Her heart pressed tightly against Tony's. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3

"Breathe in, breathe out! Breathe in, breathe out!" Tony took several rapid breaths trying to calm his pounding heart and resist the urge to vomit.

"DiNozzo, you okay?" Gibbs asked him walking into the men's room at the synagogue. "We're waiting for you out there." He looked over Tony's appearance in the mirror's reflection. His face was pale and he appeared to be sweating. Gibbs had never seen Tony this nervous before in his life. "Getting cold feet?" He leaned back against the counter and folded his arms over his chest to look at the younger man with a soft smile trying to gauge the situation.

"I don't know if I can do this." Tony shook his head slowly feeling a bead of sweat run down his spine. He tugged at the bow tie around his neck that suddenly felt extremely tight.

"You don't want to marry Ziva?" Gibbs asked softly with knit eyebrows.

"Not like this." Tony answered quietly running his hands under cold water and wiping his brow. His mind thrown back just days ago to hearing Ziva say the same thing.

"You pushed for this as a solution." Gibbs asked quietly with a questioning tone at the sudden change in Tony's behavior. He had a pretty good idea as to why and wondered if Tony did as well.

"I didn't expect it to be this hard, Boss." Tony answered with his jaw clenching.

"It's a mission like any other. You've already pretended to be married in the past." He quoted Tony's words back to him when he and Ziva announced they would take Ducky's suggestion and get married. "That is what you said?" Gibbs had known there was a much deeper meaning to this marriage for the people entering into it and the change in Tony and Ziva's relationship; but if they wanted to play this off as just another 'undercover' assignment, doing what had to be done, then he'd go along with it.

"It's different this time." Tony answered swallowing hard and staring at his reflection in the mirror. His impeccable tuxedo with no expense spared was flawless to look as charming, handsome and dashing as possible on his wedding day.

"What's the problem with pretending this time?" Gibbs pushed him as nonchalantly as possible, trying to get a real response out of Tony as to what the problem with his undercover assignment was.

"Because it won't be pretend anymore…and yet it will be." Tony answered with a deep sigh and looked down at his hands, thumbing his ring finger that soon would be wearing a wedding band.

"What part is the most troubling, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked quietly seeing Tony's emotions just beneath the surface. "That it won't be pretend anymore…or that it will be?"

"That it will be." Tony answered him truthfully. He didn't want his marriage to Ziva to be just a sham. He never realized how much he wanted it to be more, to be real, until he put his tuxedo on and stood before the mirror in the dressing room at the synagogue. It felt real then. The enormity of what they were actually doing. "I don't want my marriage to Ziva to be a sham." He sighed deeply in disbelief he'd just admitted that out loud and to his boss, nonetheless. "I don't want it to be just a joke."

Gibbs stared at him a long moment, shifting his arms on his chest. "So don't let it be."

"Boss?" Tony looked at him incredulously at what that meant coming from the man who said very little. He'd need more of an explanation that that. "What do you mean?"

"Work at it. Make something more it." Gibbs answered him honestly and saw the immediate range of emotions flood Tony's face at the suggestion.

"Boss, are you encouraging me to break Rule #12?" Tony smiled widely at him with a tease and rampant nerves at the suggestion. Gibbs responded swiftly with an immediate head slap. "Sorry Boss." Tony lost the smile and joking tone seeing the look in Gibbs eyes.

"You don't want it to be a sham, stop acting as though it's a joke." He offered with slanted eyebrow and a warning tone. Tony had resulted to what he did best when nervous and afraid. He was treating the entire situation as a joke the last couple of days with his nerves running high.

Tony instantly looked guilty at being called out by Gibbs for doing the very thing he was afraid of this marriage being, a joke. And here he was treating it as such again.

"I'm about to walk Ziver down the aisle to marry you. I think Rule #12 went out the window in Berlin." Gibbs raised his eyebrow at Tony and saw the younger man's eyes widen considerably.

"Boss-" Tony immediately tried to deflect any wrongdoing.

"Save it, DiNozzo." Gibbs put his hand up not interested in hearing whatever fictional tale Tony would try to spin him. "I sent you with her to Berlin. I knew what I was doing."

Tony's eyebrow immediately slanted at the implication of those words and what exactly his boss had meant by it. He stared intently at Gibbs waiting for an explanation not wanting to give anything away.

"I knew you'd take care of her, Tony." Gibbs answered him quietly reaching out to straighten Tony's collar from where he'd been tugging on it and catching his gaze once more. "I trust you'll continue to keep taking care of her?"

Tony nodded softly, swallowing the lump of emotion in his throat. "Always, Boss."

"Good." Gibbs smiled at him with a tight-lipped grin and patted Tony roughly on his shoulder. "You ready? I didn't put this monkey suit on for nothing." His smile widened at Tony, trying to ease the tension now that the seriousness of the conversation had been addressed.

"How do I do this?" Tony asked him taking another deep breath and straightening his tie after tugging on it again. "What if this isn't enough to save her life?" He asked feeling his heart pound in fear that even this marriage wouldn't be enough to stop what was coming their way. Ziva's life was potentially in his hands with his possible condemning testimony if he were forced to give it under Oath.

"One step at a time, DiNozzo." Gibbs squeezed his shoulder supportively, looking away and not wanting to show Tony he had concerns as well; that this wouldn't be enough to throw the investigators and prosecution off Ziva's scent where Bodnar was concerned. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked looking intently into Tony's eyes and grasping both shoulders. It wasn't as simple as saying, 'I do.' They were going to have to pull off a 'real' marriage under the eyes of the investigators who were likely to respond to this marriage with immediate allegations that it was false. Staged only to save Tony from testifying against Ziva. He didn't want Tony or Ziva to feel forced into this situation, even if Ziva's situation were dire at the moment.

"I'm sure." Tony nodded more confidently with Gibbs words of encouragement. That if he wanted it to be more then a sham of a wedding, then think of it as more and work at it. "I'll take care of her, Boss." He repeated again softly, swallowing hard and staring at the man who was the closest thing to a real father Ziva ever had.

"I know." Gibbs lips curled into a smile.

* * *

"Oh, wow." McGee gasped standing beside Tony when he turned around and first saw Ziva on Gibbs arm. His smile grew to raging as she smiled back at him. "Take a breath, Tony." He warned him quietly with a smile knowing that the moment Tony turned around, he'd forget to breathe seeing Ziva.

Tony felt his heart skip a beat at McGee's warning and the raging smile and twinkle in his eye at seeing Ziva. He took a deep breath and stood a little straighter, smiling at Schmeil under the altar and turned. Whatever air had been in his lungs escaped rapidly in deep gasp the moment he laid eyes upon her.

Ziva had never looked more beautiful. She was a vision in white, a dream come to life and his heart danced wildly with excitement and fear as she began her slow walk towards him on Gibbs arm. Their' eyes locked and everyone else faded away. He could see in her eyes, that this meant more to Ziva than just an elaborate rouse for her continued freedom. With each step closer towards each other, their smiles grew in seeing the same feelings reflected back in the other's eyes.

"You are…incredibly beautiful." Tony whispered with a smile to her taking her hands into his when Gibbs gave her over. He'd shut everything and everyone else out but her, standing before him. They couldn't tear their eyes away from one another as the ceremony went on.

"Do you, Anthony, take Ziva, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, as long as you both shall live?" Schmeil asked with a brilliant smile as the one to be marrying them under the Jewish altar.

"I do." Tony smiled answering quietly and staring deeply into Ziva's dark and glistening eyes.

"And do you, Ziva, take Anthony, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, as long as you both shall live?" Schmeil asked her with just as brilliant of grin.

"I do." Ziva answered quietly with her own raging smile, realizing how many of those vows that she and Tony already adhered to.

"The rings please." Schmeil smiled at McGee as the Best Man who gladly handed over the matching platinum wedding bands. "Anthony, please repeat after me." He handed Tony the ring for Ziva. With the ring hovering just over the end of Ziva's ring finger, Schmeil began to speak again revealing the promise inscribed on the inside of each ring. "I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine." He paused waiting for Tony to repeat it.

"I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine." Tony smiled speaking his vows to Ziva in Hebrew. When he'd finished, he carefully slid the ring up her finger and into place.

"Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel." Schmeil finished with a smile.

"Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel." Tony continued speaking in Hebrew quietly with a smile and blinking back tears.

"Ziva," Schmeil smiled with a soft nod that it was her turn. He passed over the ring for Tony and she placed the ring over the end of Tony's finger. "Please repeat after me. I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine."

"I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine." She repeated quietly with a soft smile and unshed tears as well, sliding the ring up Tony's finger.

"Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel." Schmeil prompted the final vow.

"Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel." Ziva smiled speaking her vow in English to Tony as he had given his to her in Hebrew.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." Schmeil smiled with waggling eyebrows and Tony couldn't help but chuckle at the older man's enthusiasm. He leaned in slowly and captured Ziva's lips, his hand cupping the side of her face and holding her near with heart thundering in his ears. The loud clapping and whistles from a few of their excited co-workers reminded them that they were not alone, sharing their first kiss in public.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Schmeil smiled watching as McGee set down the wrapped glass at Tony's feet, "I introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo, Junior."

Another roar of applause went up as Tony smiled and crushed the glass under his right foot.

"Mazel tov!" Schmeil led the chorus of congratulations that immediately followed.

* * *

"I'll get it. Just give me a minute." Tony fumbled with the key to his apartment more then slightly inebriated. The limo had dropped them off after the reception at his place that was now going to be their place for the foreseeable future. Given they were not allowed to leave the immediate vicinity of Washington, D.C. there would be no honeymoon.

"Oh, let me do it!" Ziva sighed impatiently with a smile and soft giggle taking the keys from Tony. She fumbled for only a moment finding the right key and opened the lock.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Tony grabbed her arm softly stopping her from entering when she opened the door. He smiled wrapping his arm around her waist before swooping her into his arms. "It's tradition. Must carry the bride over the threshold."

"You cannot be serious." Ziva looked at him with wide-eyes, having only seen this kind of thing in the movies. Given Tony's love of the movies, she should have expected it. "This is not necessary."

"It is quite necessary, Ziva Dav…" His voice faded quickly realizing what he was about to call her and then smiled in realization, "Ziva DiNozzo." He chuckled softly seeing her eyes widen at hearing her new name.

"Ziva David-DiNozzo." She corrected him with a smile, wanting to keep at least part of her name.

"Okay, hyphenated I can work with." Tony smiled widely at the idea, liking the sound of their names forever together.

Slowly he walked through the entrance into the apartment and paused, capturing her lips quickly in a deep and intense but brief kiss.

"What was that?" Ziva asked breathless, still getting used to the idea of kissing Tony in such ways after only a few days of being able to do so.

"Also tradition." Tony smiled still holding her in his arms, not wanting to let her down. "To welcome home my wife." He added quietly with eyes holding fast to hers. Without saying anything he carried her down the short hallway and into his bedroom.

"You got a bigger bed." Ziva commented softly without taking her eyes away from Tony's. His small Twin bed was now gone and replaced by a very large, King size bed instead.

Tony smiled more widely at her ability to see things in her peripheral vision even with her eyes so focused directly on his. "I did. It arrived yesterday."

They stare into each other's eyes for a long moment of silence. They had not been together since the first time and the last time in Berlin. Both knew they would tonight, and that it would be different. It wasn't a spur of the moment, adrenaline rush induced act as it was then. Tonight, it would be slow and deliberate and hold so much more meaning because they had finally admitted how they really felt about each other with words. And whether it meant something yet or not, they were now married and this was their first night together as husband and wife. If this marriage were going to mean something in the future, then tonight would certainly mean something as well.

"Big night." Tony spoke quietly inhaling a shaking breath.

Ziva thought about answering with a flippant tease as she would have before, saying something about his having 'performance anxiety' or something similar. But when she saw the way he was looking at her, she knew that he wasn't joking this time as he had in the days previous about this marriage. He meant it. She didn't dare speak and swallowed hard giving him a slight nod of her head in agreement instead. Slowly, she leaned in with fingers wrapping around his neck and into his hair at the base of his skull. Her eyes darting to his soft and inviting lips she closed the distance and kissed him, her tongue darting out in the briefest of touches and meeting his. The fiery contact causing them both to moan softly and the urgency of need to ignite.

Tony walked forward towards the bed while still kissing her and climbed carefully into the center. Gently, he laid her down and hovered over top of her, looking into her eyes with a smile. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon." He finally admitted his thoughts he'd kept hidden all of these years. "I mean it." Tony added quietly, wanting her to know that he wasn't trying to tease or charm her. He was serious. "You are incredibly beautiful, Ziva David-DiNozzo." His body lowered just a bit further with fingers gently brushing the wild loose curls away from her face. "And I am madly in love with you." His smile grew as his fingertip traced lightly over her perfectly smooth lower lip.

Ziva reached up slowly and threaded her fingers once more into the hair at the back of his head, bringing his mouth down to meet hers in a tantalizing kiss. "Ani ohevet otcha, Tony." She whispered in between their lips dancing delicately between kisses, telling Tony that she loved him in the language of her heart."Ani ohevet otcha."

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_**AN: **_**So you've managed to convince me to continue this just a smidge further. There will be a Chapter 4 and then I think it's honestly done! I really and truly never imagined it to go beyond the first Chapter so thank you, for the support and encouraging reviews to add a little more and more and more... LOL -Wild**


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: Okay, so I was not entirely accurate when I said this would end in Chapter 4... it will end in Chapter 5. LOL This Trial Update was just too big to put into one chapter! Too much stuff going on so I'll throw the remaining Chapter up later. There will be a lot of dialogue in this one given its a trial...and well, people don't sit around quietly knitting and reading each other's thoughts at a trial. It's a verbal showdown in a modern day Wild West! ;)- Wild**_

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_'Breathe in, breathe out. Breath in, breathe out._' Ziva was trying to take slow calming breaths as she sat behind the Defendants table beside her representation, Admiral Chegwidden of the JAG Corp. The top attorney the Navy had to offer and former Judge Advocate General before his retirement. Gibbs had pulled out all the stops in securing her the, _best of the best_, to represent her.

Chegwidden had been informed only after the fact that she and Tony had been married since they'd last seen the man and to their great surprise, he didn't seem upset by it at all as they were expecting from the gruff older man. Ziva's mind flashed back to just two days ago:

_ Ziva and Tony sat nervously together on the opposite side of the table as Gibbs in the conference room at NCIS while Admiral Chegwidden sat at the end. They had just informed him that they'd been married the day before and nervously held hands under the table, braving whatever wrath they were sure was coming their way. _

_ After a long moment of silence with arms crossed and stern eyes set glaring at them while he traced his lower lip in thought, Chegwidden snorted with an inhaled laugh and shook his head looking down with a smile before meeting their eyes again. "You two remind me so much of my own troublesome kids back in the day, I can't believe it. Working for the damn spies, flying around the world and getting their ass into trouble! Stubborn! Pigheaded! Constantly finding themselves in trouble and leaping before they'd look. Partners for eight damn anxious and tumultuous years before they finally got their acts together and decided to get married overnight! I'm too damn old for this shit anymore. Better you than me, Gibbs." _

_Gibbs only smiled as if sharing in on the inside joke. "How are Rabb and Mackenzie doing these days?" He asked the Admiral quietly with a growing smile._

_"Still just as stubborn and pigheaded!" Chegwidden smiled back with voice rising. "Though in far less trouble these days, Thank God. Having a kids will do that to you." He smiled more widely and Gibbs nodded softly in agreement with a soft chuckle._

_"How many?" Gibbs asked._

_"Four! Just had a new baby girl. Mackenzie Catherine Rabb." Chegwidden boomed with pride and wide smile as any grandfather would have, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He removed a photo and passed it over to Gibbs. "That makes three girls, who look just like their mother, thank god! And one precocious two-year old little boy that is the spitting image of his father! As if the world needed another Harmon Rabb!" He laughed shaking his head. "Mac is quite busy these days."_

_"Are they still in London?" Gibbs asked quietly and clearly amused by the older man's way with words, which he clearly had no trouble speaking his mind._

_"Yes, and I'm still surprised every damn day that Harmon Rabb Junior ever survived long enough to become a Rear Admiral and the Head of the Office of Naval Research." His smile sobered while his hands met and he drummed his fingers together. "If it weren't for the two of you proving his innocence," He looked at Tony and Gibbs, shaking his head softly taking back the photo of his 'grandchildren.' "None of their lives would be possible." He paused for a moment putting the photo away and then smiled at Tony and Ziva. "We'll make this marriage work." _

Before they'd left their meeting with Admiral Chegwidden, he'd gone over everything they could expect now from the Lead investigator and prosecutor for the Department of Defense, Richard Parsons. The man was bound to attack their marriage given the short notice and it occurring only after charges were filed. They'd devised a strategy and with the help of character witnesses to back up their story that their marriage was real, they'd hoped it would be enough to make Tony's attempts at Pleading the Fifth Amendment to avoid incriminating Ziva stick.

Chegwidden's final parting advice to Ziva, were instructions on how to appear this day in court. She was to wear either an off-white or white summer dress, just above her knees, professional looking but still playful enough that the jury would see her as a new bride rather than a killer in dark clothing. Her hair was to be down and flowing with soft curls, not slicked back in anyway as that screamed, _lethal and closed off_, according to Chegwidden. The flowing hair and soft curls were inviting, he said, giving the subconscious illusion to the jury that she had nothing to hide and show her as a young beautiful woman in love rather then a ruthless assassin out for revenge. The investigator inside of them all understood his logic and reasoning and obliged with his instructions.

A shopping trip with Abby the day before and she'd met all of his dressing requirements. Ziva looked incredibly beautiful and anything but, a ruthless assassin.

Ziva's fingers now idly twirled the platinum wedding band around her finger as she looked towards the judge settling in. She took a slow deep breath watching Richard Parsons stand and approach the bench.

"The Prosecution calls, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo to the stand." Parsons looked back into the gallery and found Tony sitting in the seat behind Ziva on the other side of the separation wall.

Tony took a slow deep breath as well, standing and smoothing his fingers down his tie before fastening his suit jacket button once more. He walked slowly towards the Witness Stand and stood, waiting for his Oath to be taken.

"Can you please state your name for the record?"

"Anthony DiNozzo, _Junior_." He emphasized the last part as the man had not said it when addressing him.

"Place your hand on the Bible, please." The bailiff stepped forward and held the book out to Tony. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god?"

"I do." Tony answered quietly with a soft nod of his head.

"You may sit down." The bailiff nodded at him and went back to standing on the edge of the Witness Stand in front of the Chamber Doors for the judge presiding over the case.

"Agent DiNozzo," Richard Parsons sighed with a smile and exaggerated Tony's name as he approached Tony. "You are partners at NCIS with the defendant, Special Agent Ziva David, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And how long have you been partners?"

"Roughly, eight years this September." Tony smiled slightly with eyes flashing to Ziva for the first time and holding.

His thoughts immediately flashing back to the moment he first laid eyes upon her. She was beautiful then, too, only starkly different than now. She had breezed into his life wearing a bandana on her head to control her tight and crazy curls, in cargo-pants and combat boots. Ziva looked completely different now sitting before him in an elegant dress, heels, and delicate jewelry with long and flowing hair of soft curls. Ziva had changed. They both had. He supposed that was how it was supposed to be. When you get older and the thought made him smile that for once, he didn't mind aging at all when he looked at the beautiful woman before him that he could now call his wife. Eight years of waiting, wanting and wishing and now Ziva was his.

"That's a long time. Tell me, Agent DiNozzo, where were you on the night of April 23rd of this year?" Parsons addressed Tony getting right down to business and they reason they were all here today.

To hear the events surrounding the death of Illan Bodnar whose body had been found with a bullet wound through the middle of his forehead and in several pieces; weighted down at the bottom of the junction of the Spree and Dahme Rivers near Köpenick in Berlin's eastern suburbs. The CIA had purposefully dredged the area looking for their deep-cover agent, Illan Bodnar. Ziva was now facing Murder Charges for his death as well as Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Obstruction of Justice, Espionage and Treason.

"I was in Berlin." Tony answered quietly shifting his eyes back to the man now staring him down. He sat taller and unbuttoned his suit jacket once more getting comfortable.

"And who were you with?" Parsons continued to stare directly into Tony's eyes.

"Agent David." Tony answered immediately and without hesitation.

"And what were you doing that evening?"

"We went to a club. We danced." Tony's face lit slowly into a smile thinking about the slow dance with Ziva that had led to a different kind of dancing later that evening.

"Isn't it true, that you were in Berlin because Agent David was in pursuit Illan Bodnar?"

Tony swallowed hard at how quickly the man had come to this. "I am going to Plead the Fifth." He answered quietly staring straight into Parsons' eyes.

"Excuse me? On what grounds?" Parsons' looked shocked at first and then slightly amused believing Tony didn't understand how to use his Fifth Amendment Rights properly.

"On the grounds that that Agent David is my wife." Tony answered carefully and then smiled a tight-lipped grin at the man's wide-eyed reaction and the gasping of those in the gallery watching the proceedings.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that Agent David is your wife?" Parsons repeated moving closer with hand resting on the smooth wood of the Witness Stand.

"Yes. Very Special Agent Ziva David-_DiNozzo_, is in fact, my wife." Tony smiled proudly with eyes glancing over to Ziva and giving her a soft nod.

Ziva couldn't help but smile back at the pride in his eyes and smile at calling her his wife. She was still getting used to hearing her name as one with his.

"And when did this marriage take place?" Parsons' asked clearly annoyed.

"Three days ago." Tony smiled and reached into his jacket pocket producing a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Parsons revealing the signed certificate of marriage as evidence.

"Ah!" Parsons' nodded slowly with a tight set in his jaw reading over the paper and then handing it to the judge. "And why so suddenly, Agent DiNozzo?"

"It's not so sudden. It's been eight years worth of literal blood, sweat and tears for Ziva and I to get us to this point." Tony sighed speaking quietly and looking over at her with the flashes of all they'd been through together flashing before their eyes.

"And what point is that, Agent DiNozzo?"

"Marriage." Tony smiled at Ziva without taking his eyes away from hers. He didn't even bother looking at Parsons.

"A marriage of convenience." Parsons countered with a smug smile and Tony's eyes flashed to his.

"I assure you, it is not. My relationship with Ziva is quite complex and there has been nothing convenient about it." Tony was trying to control his anger and clicked his jaw to refrain from saying what he wanted to.

"Fine. If you are Pleading the Fifth in regards to the events in questions taking place in Berlin; let us get a little history then about this complex relationship with your _wife_. When did you first meet Agent David?" Parson dove right in, deciding immediately on another strategy. There was a reason he was called a Pitbull by the DoD.

"But, I Pled the Fifth?" Tony's gaze flashed wildly from Parsons to the judge, not understanding how Parsons could continue to ask him questions about his relationship with Ziva.

"You must still answer all other questions by the Prosecution unless they will directly incriminate you or your spouse of the charges with your answer, Agent DiNozzo. Answer his question." The judge informed Tony with raised eyebrows and a swift nod of his head.

Tony looked towards the Defense table seeing the worry already back in Ziva's eyes and sought guidance and reassurance from Admiral Chegwidden sitting beside her. The man barely nodded against his hands folded before his face with elbows resting on the table, signaling Tony to answer Parsons questions.

"Your Honor, in light of Special Agent DiNozzo Pleading the Fifth, I'd like to make a motion that Agent DiNozzo be declared a hostile witness for questioning." Parsons addressed the judged directly. Tony's eyes went wide but saw Chegwidden's arms unfold and lay his hand on the table before him, his fingers barely lifting off the wood in a downward waving motion telling Tony to, _calm down, take it easy_, they had expected this. By declaring him a Hostile Witness, Parsons could now lead him into questions that contained the 'answers' he wanted suggestively.

"Motion granted. Answer the question, Agent DiNozzo." The judge nodded at Tony, seeing they weren't going to get anywhere today in court without some answers being given.

"September 20th, 2005." Tony answered quietly in an exhaled rush.

"She was an Officer of Mossad at the time, correct?"

"Yes."

"And why was she sent from Israel, to the United States at that time?"

"To help with an investigation. Another Officer of Mossad had gone rogue."

"The rogue Mossad Officer was Ari Hassan, correct?"

"Yes." Tony answered feeling a sense of dread already coming over him with questions of Ari and how Ziva had come into their life: as a Mossad Assassin trying to help her Mossad Assassin brother.

"He'd been accused of many treacherous acts during that time, one of which was killing your former partner, Special Agent Caitlin Todd. Is that correct?" Parsons narrowed his eyebrows trying to gauge Tony's reaction.

"Yes." Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the images of Kate's body with the bullet hole to her forehead clashed violently with those of Illan Bodnar who had met a similar fate.

"And what was the relationship between then Mossad Officer Ziva David and Officer Ari Haswari?"

"She was his Control Officer." Tony answered already seeing where this was headed. He wasn't going to give Parsons anything unless asked directly.

"Is that all? There was no other relationship between the two?"

'Damn it!' Tony swore internally at the man's way of forcing this important left out detail from Tony.

"They were also half brother and sister." He answered him quietly.

"They shared the same father. Then Deputy Mossad Director Eli David, correct?"

"Yes." Tony answered smoothing his fingers down his tie again feeling restless under the scrutiny for once in his life. He'd stared down Eli David and kept his cool, he'd done the same with Saleem Ulman facing death in a terrorist camp in Somalia. Neither of those times compared to what they were facing now. It wasn't his life that was in jeopardy as it had been in Israel, or theirs as it had been in Somalia; it was _hers_; and their life and future together.

"And how did that investigation end?" Parsons continued on.

"Our Boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, killed Officer Ari Haswari in his basement when Ari had come to kill him."

"Is that so?" Parson asked with a tone that suggested he knew more then he was letting on.

"Yes." Tony answered with eyes shifting to the gallery and Gibbs, gauging his reaction to the tone in Parsons voice that Tony's response was not the truth.

Gibbs didn't move a muscle. Had no reaction at all though Tony saw Ziva's face pale slightly and shift her crossed ankles beneath the table to a new position.

"Hmm." Parsons furrowed his brows dramatically and then crossed his arms over his chest looking back at Ziva and then to Tony again making Tony nervous about what was going on. "Then when was the next time you saw Officer David?"

"Our former Director Jenny Shepard created a Liaison position between Mossad and NCIS. Ziva was assigned to fill that position." Tony answered and swallowed hard reaching for the small glass of water on the Witness Stand and taking a sip. His mouth was dry and brain running rampant with Parsons previous tone and question and both Gibbs and Ziva's reactions.

"And Officer David became a part of your team?" Parsons forged ahead.

"Yes."

"And Officer David had no problem working with Agent Gibbs? The man who was held responsible for her brother's death?" Parsons asked standing side-ways looking from Tony to Ziva and Gibbs in the gallery sitting just behind and off to the side of her.

"No." Tony answered quietly.

"Not even the slightest bit of tension between the two?" Parsons asked with an incredulous tone.

"No." Tony answered more forcefully, annoyed with the repetitive question and his answer he was no longer sure about

"That is a little strange, don't you think Agent DiNozzo? For there to be absolutely no tension between this Officer of Mossad and the Agent who killed her brother? Now her boss at NCIS?"

"Objection! Compound question and calls for conclusion!" Admiral Chegwidden erupted from his seat with his first objection of the trial and working around Parsons ability to lead the questions with Tony. The man hadn't allowed Tony to answer one question before hitting him with another and each question was asking for Tony's opinion rather than facts.

"Special Agent DiNozzo is the Senior Field Agent for the Naval Crimes Investigative Services. I would think that he's more then qualified to give his opinion about then Officer David and Agent Gibbs behavior, based on the evidence presented." Parsons countered with a raised eyebrow calling Tony's professional status into play and using it against him.

"Overruled. I'll allow it given Agent DiNozzos status as a criminal investigator. Answer the question, Agent DiNozzo."

"No. I do not believe their behavior towards each other was strange." Tony answered not quite truthfully. He chose to tell himself he was being truthful with the man asking him this question, as he'd really thought Ziva and Gibbs relationship was more _bizarre_ at the time then strange.

His reaction to their new relationship was short-lived when he realized that Ziva was nearly the same age as Gibbs daughter Kelly who had been killed as a child; things suddenly made more sense to him in regards to Gibbs affinity for Ziva.

"And Special Agent Gibbs never questioned her loyalty or trustworthiness coming into your team after her brother's death?" Parsons continued with his accusatory disbelieving tone.

"No. Not to my knowledge." Tony answered biting back the retort on the end of his tongue.

"Not to your knowledge. So everything was smooth sailing in adding Officer David to your team?"

"Yes, pretty much." Tony answered flippantly as his anger for the man and situation started seeping into his responses.

"Pretty much." Parsons repeated with a slow nod of his head, mocking Tony. "You don't recall there being any trouble at all with Officer David her first year with the team?"

"What do you mean by trouble with the team?" Tony asked annoyed and ready to let the man have it. If he wanted to mock Tony's answers; Tony had decided that he would mock him back by turning his ridiculous questions on end. He would be the Hostile Witness that Parson had declared him to be. "If you mean, we argued about her terrible knowledge of the English language idioms, her lack of movie knowledge and her horrendous driving skills frequently, then yes, I guess Ziva gave us trouble." Tony smiled more widely feeling satisfied with that answer and flashed his eyes briefly to Ziva.

"While interesting and _cute_, that is not what I meant, Agent DiNozzo." Parsons was less than impressed with Tony's rebuttal.

"Oh, well, then no. She did not give us any trouble." Tony smiled at Ziva again before looking back to the man who was silently fuming.

"Officer David was suspected and investigate for killing a suspect while in her custody that year, is that correct? A Mr. Dempsey?" Parsons dove right in again.

Tony lost his smile quickly at the reminder of Dempsey and the elevator doors opening to reveal his dead body with Ziva beside it. "Yes, but she was cleared of any wrongdoing." He answered quietly and maintained his composure.

"And why was she investigated for killing him in the first place?"

"The suspect was combative." Tony swallowed the lump forming in his throat seeing what this man was doing. He was trying to disparage Ziva's character with what he was recalling of their past. "Officer David subdued him with a counter punch to the throat." He answered honestly.

"And the man died from that punch, correct?" Parsons looked directly at Tony.

"Our Medical Examiner determined that Dempsey had a brain aneurysm." Tony answered confidently.

"Is that standard procedure, Special Agent DiNozzo, to punch a suspect in the throat to subdue them when combative?"

"No. It is not NCIS procedure." Tony sighed internally feeling his heart start to pound again at the light this man was painting Ziva into. He was making her sound like a heartless killer. First, unfeeling in that she could so easily become part of their team after Gibbs killed her brother and now, by suggesting she over-reacted to the situation with Dempsey. The later may have been true, but that was her instinct then. Her training for Mossad. She hadn't yet learned from Gibbs and working with them to control herself.

"But it is Mossads, isn't that right?" Parson smiled slightly so that only Tony saw before he wheeled around to look at Ziva across the room with a suggestive gaze.

"Yes. I guess so, I am not Mossad nor have I ever been. I could not tell you." Tony answered with the best diplomatic answer he could think of.

"And still you say that she wasn't a problem for the team?"

"No, Officer David was not a problem for our team." Tony answered him defiantly with his walls of protection for Ziva getting higher.

"Agent DiNozzo, can you please tell me who is Namir Eschel?"

_'Oh shit.'_ Tony sighed internally.

Ziva's eyes fell shut with her chin dropping slightly having the same reaction to that name as Tony, knowing what was coming. Everything in her past was coming back to haunt her now.

"Agent David's former partner at Mossad." Tony answered and then took a sip of water trying to wet his suddenly parched throat again.

"And where is he now?" Parsons asked already knowing the answer.

"He was killed by an Iranian operative, Faatin Amal. They had been working together after he'd gone rogue from Mossad."

They all knew where this was going. Parsons wasn't allowed to ask Tony about Ziva's activities concerning Bodnar in Berlin; so he was dredging up her past and every single rogue Mossad assassin in it to establish a pattern of such behavior, implicating that she, too, had gone rogue in Berlin.

"Why?" Parsons asked.

"They had tried to frame Ziva, then Officer David, for the murder of two FBI Agents and a Syrian colonel. The colonel was wanted for war crimes in Israel. Eschel wanted revenge on Mossad and Amal was trying to cover her tracks and any Iranian involvement by killing Eschel." Tony answered with the truth, and hoped it would be enough, though he knew it wouldn't be. He could already guess as an interrogator himself where this line of questioning would lead: Ziva, once again, going rogue and on the run.

"And how had they tried to frame then Officer David?"

"They lured her to the café where they detonated explosives killing the agents and the colonel."

"Did Officer David wait on scene to explain what she witnessed?"

"No." Tony answered and felt an immediate kick in his gut. He'd been in charge of their team and the time and Ziva hadn't trusted him enough to get her out of the mess. She'd fled to seek help and ended up reaching out to Gibbs as the only one she believed she could trust with her life at the time. Her fears were valid. Tony had wanted Ziva to turn herself in. Had she done that, they may have never been able to prove her innocent without her in the field obtaining the proof.

"Where did she go to then?"

"She went to the Israeli Embassy." Tony sighed and flashed his eyes to Ziva with a small smile of support, trying to let her know he understood why she'd done what she did then.

"Why?"

"Because she knew she was being framed."

"So her first instincts were to seek protection from Israel and Mossad? Not her current team at NCIS?" Parsons looked back at Ziva.

Ziva felt the slice of the blade. Parsons had just sliced the beginning of the divide, creating doubt of her loyalty to NCIS and the United States by seeking help and protection from Israel and Mossad.

"Objection! Your Honor, calls for speculation. Agent DiNozzo has no way of knowing what Agent David's first instincts were that day." Chegwidden saw the smug smile in Parsons eyes. He knew the damage was already done with his statement to the jury. He couldn't make them 'un-hear' the accusation against Ziva's loyalty and 'instincts' to return to Mossad.

"Sustained. Either rephrase the question, Mr. Parsons or move on." The judge nodded at the man to keep moving.

"I'll re-phrase, your Honor. Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David left the scene of an explosion and triple murder and sought refuge inside the confines of the Israeli Embassy? Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"She did not return to NCIS?" Parsons pounded in his doubt for the jury about Ziva's 'first instincts' in the seed he'd planted in their minds about her loyalty.

"No." Tony answered quietly and fuming inside that he was incriminating Ziva in this way with the man's re-phrasing of the question and the truth and the truth sounded bad.

"Even though she was wanted for questioning by US Authorities, she remained on the run and hiding out, correct?"

"Yes." Tony sighed clicking his jaw again with frustration.

"She never turned herself in."

"No."

"She never cooperated with the investigation at all, is that correct?"

"No. She was being framed. She knew she had to clear herself." Tony finally argued back unable to hold back anymore with the man's damning questions and his answers one after another.

"Ah, so she went rogue?" Parsons smiled at him that Tony had walked right into that trap with his emotions on high. "Like the Mossad Operatives Ari Haswari and Namir Eschel before her, Officer David took matters into her own hands, correct?"

Tony was immediately berating himself internally for having fallen into the trap so easily the man had set before him. Now he had to do damage control and show she hadn't just gone off alone as a 'rogue' but did so only in the name of clearing herself of wrongdoing. "Officer David sought the help of our former Boss and Leader, Special Agent Gibbs to help clear her name."

"But Special Agent Gibbs was no longer an active agent at the time, correct?"

"Yes." Tony sighed and cast his eyes downward at how badly this was all sounding.

"So they were both interfering with a US Federal Investigation into the matter? Working rogue together. Is that correct?"

Tony looked up with clenched jaw and fire in his eyes. "Agent David was cleared of any wrongdoing."

"You did not answer my questions, Agent DiNozzo. At the time, then Officer David and former Special Agent Gibbs had gone rogue together to work on clearing her name? Working around and outside of the US Federal Investigation, is that correct?"

"Yes." Tony clenched and unclenched his hands into fists as they rest on his lap.

They knew going into this trial, their entire team's integrity was going to be attacked. It had begun and this was just the beginning.

"This was not the last time that Officer David went rogue while working under the banner of Mossad Liaison while on US soil. Tell me, Agent DiNozzo, what happened on the night of May 19th, 2009?" Parsons eyes flashed from Ziva to Tony and back again waiting for Tony to answer.

Ziva was having a hard time not slipping her mask of indifference into place to hide her emotions from this man who was so intent on seeing her reaction. Chegwidden had told them that, _was the absolutely worst thing that Ziva could do; not react to emotional testimony or history given_. _To appear emotionless during such testimony would only cement the idea she was a ruthless cold-hearted assassin in the jury's eyes if they saw no real emotional reaction from Ziva. _To show her emotions so publicly now was going against everything in her Mossad training but that was exactly what was needed to help maintain her freedom.

"I went to then Officer David's apartment to talk. When I arrived, Mossad Operative Michael Rivkin was alone in Ziva's apartment. We argued, he attacked me, I shot him before he could kill me." Tony spoke quietly with sad eyes glancing at Ziva with still so much unsaid between them about this night.

They had never spoken of it since Ziva had laid him flat onto the concrete in Mossad's courtyard and walked away. He felt as though he pushed her too far in egging her on that day, yelling at her to punch him, to take a swing and that it was his taunting of her and the situation that caused her to make the decision to stay behind in Israel, even if Tony had proven he was right about Rivkin, Tony's aggressive approach only pushed her further away. After finding her alive in the desert, he'd back off completely in pushing her about this subject and since she never brought it up again after her apology in the men's room, he wasn't going to either. He knew they would likely have to discuss it at some point in the near future if their marriage really was going to work.

"You killed him that night, correct?"

"Yes." Tony answered inhaling softly and turning his gaze away from Ziva and back towards Parsons.

"Why did you go to then Officer David's apartment that evening? You said to talk, but about what?"

"A case we were working on concerning Officer Rivkin."

"What case?"

"He had killed accidentally, a US Federal Agent during a Mossad operation and was suspected of killing others involved in the case." Tony answered knowing that this was going to be damning testimony for them both.

"Is that normal procedure for the two of you? To discuss cases in your private residences?"

"No."

"So why go to her home to discuss this case?"

"I was concerned for her." Tony answered honestly and brought his eyes back to hold with Ziva's.

"Why?"

"She had a personal relationship and history with Officer Rivkin. I was concerned about his motives in contacting her."

"Were you aware at the time that then Officer David was harboring Officer Rivkin in her home?"

"I was not aware that Officer Rivkin was staying at Ziva's apartment." Tony answered the man and changed the dialogue, not liking the word 'harboring' as Parsons meant it in this line of questioning.

"So she withheld that information from your team at NCIS even though she knew you were searching for Officer Rivkin in connection with your case?"

"Yes."

"And after you killed Officer Rivkin in her apartment, what happened?"

"We went to Israel where I was questioned about the events that led to his death."

"You were questioned by Officer David's own father, Mossad Director Eli David, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Officer Rivkin's actions were thought to be rogue by investigating US Authorities, correct?"

"Yes."

"But you later learned in Israel, while being questioned by Director David, that Officer Rivkin was doing exactly as ordered to, by Director David, correct?"

"Yes."

"Director David had sent Officer Rivkin on a mission inside US soil to track terrorist movements and used his own daughter to help further his Mossad agenda, is that correct?"

Ziva could feel her heart starting to pound. All of the reasons she could not forgive her father before his death, having declared to him the night he died that, _his sins were too great_; were now be waved before her as reminders of how badly he had wronged her and the damage he had caused in her life. The pedestal she had put him back upon after his death was starting to shake.

"Objection, your Honor, that is a speculative assumption. There is no way to confirm what the deceased Director David's motives were in this incident." Chegwidden waved his hand at Parsons who was taking a wide stroke of liberties with his leading questions now, even speculating on the dead.

"Sustained." The judge agreed.  
"Let me rephrase, Director David sent Officer Rivkin on a mission inside US soil, correct?"

"Yes."

"Officer Michael Rivkin and then Officer Ziva David had a personal relationship prior to the events occurring on the night of May 19th, 2009, correct?"

"Yes."

"On May 20th, 2009 in a recorded session between you, Agent DiNozzo, and Director Eli David, you asked him and I quote, '_what kind of father throws an out of control assassin at his own daughter? What kind of business are you running here? Huh? Everyone just runs around doing what they want?'_ Director David replies immediately with, '_They do as I say.'_ You asked, _'Rivkin?'_ Director David answered with, _'Always._' Is that correct?"  
"Yes." Tony answered seeing the tears welling in Ziva's eyes at hearing of her father's and Michael's betrayals once more.

He knew in the past several months after Eli David's death she had washed away his sins committed against her with his death and her guilt at not being able to forgive him; or so she thought. Tony could see now by the look in her eyes and on her face, Ziva was getting a startling reminder of why it was she had made the decision she had that night. That in spite of how much she loved the man, he had repeatedly betrayed her, taken away from her life instead of adding to it. And now, even in death, he was taking from her life, as she faced an uncertain future for avenging him when the man really didn't deserve to be avenged.

Tony never cared about avenging Eli David's death. It was not why he went with Ziva to Berlin. He went because of her; to be whatever she needed and if she needed to do this to assuage her own guilt, then he'd stand beside her as he knew there was no talking her out of it.

"Agent DiNozzo, you are a trained interrogator as you state earlier in this same conversation with Director David, is that correct?"

"Yes." Tony answered struggling with his own mixed turmoil of roiling emotions at the moment. He was furious again at Eli David for being the cause of the look in Ziva's eyes right now at the reminder of her father's betrayals; and he was furious at having to sit in this courtroom on the Witness Stand and incriminate the woman he loved with the truth of their past. And he was sad and scared looking at her so beautiful sitting as the Defendant across the courtroom and neither of them having any idea what their future would look like beyond this moment, beyond today.

The last three days of being married had been more than he could have ever imagined. It was beautiful and when he was alone with Ziva in their safe little cocoon of his apartment, everything was perfect as it always was meant to be just the two of them, together. It would all be gone if they could not find a way out of this mess. To convince the jury their love and marriage was real allowing for his continued right to Plead the Fifth as her husband and save her from his incriminating testimony.

He tried to remember Chegwidden's words, '_that it wouldn't matter what Parsons would try to conjure up casting Ziva into a bad light or the team for protecting her as long as they could convince the jury their love and marriage was real._' Without Tony's testimony of the night in question, they had no case against Ziva with no witnesses and nothing on Bodnars body for evidence that it was actually Ziva who had pulled the trigger and disposed of the body. Tony had to remember to keep his cool no matter what Parsons did in attempt to drag them through the mud.

"And you were goading Director David into answering truthfully about his intentions in sending Officer Rivkin after Officer Ziva David, is that correct?"

"I wanted him to admit that he was in control of Officer Rivkin." Tony answered smoothly regaining his composure.

"Agent DiNozzo let me remind you again, you said, and I quote, '_what kind of a father throws an out of control assassin at his own daughter?_' Are you implying with this statement that Director David was responsible for sending Officer Rivkin to have and maintain a relationship with the defendant, then Officer Ziva David?"

"Yes." Tony answered clicking his jaw as he always did when forced to answer something while holding back his real emotions. The accusation had hurt Ziva then and from the look in her eyes now across the courtroom, it was still just as damning for her.

For Ziva, the pedestal that her father had been placed upon again after his death, began to shake even more.

"And Agent David withheld information in regards to the whereabouts of Officer Rivkin from NCIS during the investigation because of her personal relationship with Officer Rivkin. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"When did you learn of Officer David's connection to Officer Rivkin?"

"A couple of days prior to the incident on May 19th."

"How?" Parsons asked but Tony remained silent simply staring at Ziva, lost in another time and remembering how he felt seeing the images of her from Morocco for the first time; and how badly it hurt then to know that she'd nearly been killed then and he never even knew. Ducky had been the one to tell him months later. Everyone else at NCIS had known because Ziva still bore the scars and injuries from the blast to her face upon her return. They had helped locate her after initially seeing the footage to make sure she was okay. But Tony had been stuck on a ship, in the middle of the ocean and had not been in touch with Ziva at all. Things were so different then.

"You're under Oath, Agent DiNozzo. Answer the question." Parsons voice cut through his memories and reminded Tony of where he was.

"I saw old footage on ZNN of a blast in Morocco from the year before. Ziva had been injured on a mission for Mossad and was seen on the footage as was her partner at the time, Officer Rivkin."

"Officer David never told you or anyone else on your team at NCIS of how she knew Officer Rivkin prior to you discovering this footage?"

"No."

"So she kept it a secret. She withheld that information, even knowing you were investigating Rivkin for the murder of another Federal Agent. When you learned of the connection between the two, did you report it to your superior?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I wanted to speak with Ziva first." Tony answered knowing that this sounded bad as well for the integrity of their team in breaking the rules for Ziva, but it also established how much he cared for her even then, which was helping to establish that their marriage and feelings of love for each other were real. And that was what Admiral Chegwidden had said was the most important as everything else would be thrown out once their marriage was deemed credible by the judge after today's testimonies. Parsons believed he could cast enough doubt to have the marriage ruled a farce, thus throwing out Tony's ability to Plead the Fifth.

"Why?" Parsons asked.

"To find out what she knew."

"So Officer David, first broke protocol by not informing either her team at NCIS or the FBI that a foreign operative for Mossad was in contact with her and then broke protocol again, by not divulging that he was in fact staying at her residence after the US investigation began looking for him? Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And you broke protocol, Agent DiNozzo, by not reporting your information about the connection between Officers Rivkin and David to your superior? Is that correct?"

"I wanted to speak with Ziva first, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Ah, so in giving her the benefit of the doubt, you imply that you had reservations about her loyalty to NCIS at this time to withhold this information, is that correct?" Parsons asked.

Once again, Tony sat in silence as his mind wondered back in time thinking about how very badly things had gone down then.

"Answer the question, Agent DiNozzo, did you or did you not have reservations at that time, that Officer David was loyal first to NCIS?"

"I was concerned she was being used." Tony answered with eyes holding fast to Ziva's, not wanting to answer this question and pound another nail into her character in what was starting to feel like a crucifixion to Tony.

"Your concern does not matter in this question, Agent DiNozzo. Whether or not she was being used, does not matter. What matters is that Officer David knowingly and willingly withheld vital information about the whereabouts and history of Officer Rivkin, which indicates that her first loyalty is to Mossad. So let me repeat the question. You had reservations about Officer David's loyalty to NCIS during this time, is that correct?"

"Yes." Tony admitted and saw the immediate wave of sadness and guilt pass through Ziva's eyes and the struggle he saw for her to keep from shutting down emotional in defense when being attacked so personally. She was also doing exactly as Chegwidden had instructed in leaving her soul bare for the jury to see her feel her emotions.

"So Officer David, had once again gone rogue and was attempting to circumvent a US Authorized Federal investigation, for the second time. And once again, your team members covered for her. You did not report her when you should have. Is that correct?"

"Objection; that was in implied statement based on speculation, your Honor. Where was the question?"

"It is not speculation, your Honor, they are facts. Officer David has a history of going rogue when it suits her. The members of her team at NCIS have a history of helping her to evade authorities in their attempts to keep her from prosecution for those actions. I'm establishing a pattern."

"Sustained. I'll allow it. Answer the question, Agent DiNozzo."

"Can you repeat the question?" Tony asked taking another sip of water already feeling drained and like he was being bludgeoned to death.

"You did not report immediately to your superiors when you discovered that Officer David withheld vital information in regards to Officer Rivkin during your investigation, is that correct?" Parsons repeated his long-winded and damning question.

"No, I did not." Tony answered honestly.

"In fact, you never reported that information to your superiors, is that correct?"

"Officer Rivkin was killed before I had a chance to report it." Tony looked at the man who seemed to be taking far too much pleasure in his witch-hunt against Ziva.

"But you had a chance, Agent DiNozzo. By your own admission in this very testimony, you said you learned the true nature of the relationship between Officers David and Rivkin, 'a couple days prior to the night of May 19th.' Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"That is two days, you could have and should have reported to a superior about this information. You withheld vital information to your case just as Officer David was." Parsons waved a hand very pointedly with sharp fingers at Ziva and narrowed eyebrows. "She was covering for Officer Rivkin and Mossad, and you were covering for Officer David, isn't that right, Agent DiNozzo?"

"I was not covering for her. I did not want to report her until I understood the situation. I didn't want to make assumptions. That is why I went to her apartment that evening. To ask her personally as my partner, what was going on. Officer Rivkin attacked me before I could speak with Officer David." Tony's voice was low and his words clipped as he bit back his anger. He'd had enough of this man already.

"Did Officer David ever give you an explanation as to why she withheld the information in regards to Officer Rivkin from both NCIS and the FBI?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"We never had the chance to discuss it. After Rivkin was killed, we went to Israel and everything after happened quickly."

"And there wasn't a time after that, for you to question her?"

"No. She stayed behind in Israel. We did not see each other again for months." Tony swallowed hard fighting back his own emotions in seeing the new tears welling in Ziva's eyes knowing what was coming. Somalia.

"So she decided to stay behind in Israel, to keep working for Mossad rather then return to the United States and face an inquiry about why she withheld this information in the first place. Convenient for her that she had the option and protection of Mossad. The answer was pretty clear then, even without answering your question of her loyalty verbally, why she withheld information and where her loyalty actually lied if she chose to stay behind and continue to work for Mossad. When did you next see Officer David?"

"Later that year, in September."

"And where was that?"

"Somalia." Tony said the word so quietly in was nearly a whisper.

"I'm sorry can you repeat that?" Parsons had heard but intentionally provoked Tony to repeat it more loudly.

"Somalia." Tony answered again more forcefully.

This was yet another topic that was absolutely off limits of discussion with Ziva between them. Ziva kept everything that hurt too much, absolutely to herself. She had celebrated her sister's birthday every single year, by attending the opera. He'd known Ziva for the last eight years and he'd never known that about her. She had let him tease her mercilessly about it rather than tell him the truth until he'd reminded her of the newer version of themselves when they were supposed to share the things that mattered post-elevator explosion.

Somalia was another one of those subjects they'd never gotten to before everything they'd been working towards collapsed with the death of Eli David.

"Officer David had been captured by a known terrorist Saleem Ulman while working for Mossad in Somalia, correct?"

"Yes." Tony wanted to strangle the tall skinny man before him for being so cavalier with the way he threw around the Saleem Ulman and captured as if they were no big deal.

"And you went to Somalia to rescue Officer David from this camp, correct?"

"No, we did not." Tony answered hesitantly, knowing that Parsons had purposefully led him in this direction, knowing the man knew the real truth that they did not know that Ziva was alive until they got there. "We believed at the time that Officer David had been killed on the 28th of May when the ship _Damocles_ was lost at sea."

"So what then, were you doing in Somalia?"

"We were after Saleem Ulman."

"Were you aware at the time that Officer David had been sent on a mission by Mossad to kill Saleem Ulman?"

"Yes."

"But you were not aware that she was still alive and a prisoner in that camp?" Parsons again led him into this trap that was unavoidable.

"Correct. We did not know she was still alive or a prisoner in the camp."

"So you did not go there with the clearly defined mission of rescuing her?"

"No. We were going after Saleem."

"Going after terrorists is more in line with the CIA, not NCIS. According to your files, this is not something you normally do; and yet you and Special Agent Timothy McGee personally volunteered to go on this mission along with Special Agent Gibbs. You were not there to rescue Officer David but to avenge her death. You believed Saleem Ulman to be responsible for Officer David's death and the three of you decided to use your positions as Federal Agents to hunt down and kill the man you felt responsible. You wanted revenge and you were willing to twist the law to get it. Isn't that right?" Parsons dropped the bomb.

Establishing that Gibbs team had a history of seeking revenge and working outside their normal NCIS purviews to do so.

"We were Federal Agents bringing justice to a terrorist who had it coming." Tony answered truthfully and ignored the other implications.

"You chose this one terrorist out of a long list of terrorists out there in the world that you could have gone after, Agent DiNozzo. And the fact that you believed this man was responsible for Officer David's death had no role whatsoever in your decision to go after this man?" Parsons patronized him.

"He needed to be stopped." Tony answered quietly.

"He needed to be stopped." Parsons repeated what Tony said with an incredulous grin on his face at the answer. "Your team killed him, rescued Officer David from the camp and brought her back to the States. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Even though she no longer worked for NCIS or held her Liaison position between Mossad and NCIS?"

"Yes."

"And it was then that she resigned from Mossad, applied to NCIS as a Field Agent and applied for US Citizenship, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And no one questioned how quickly she was willing to renounce Israel and Mossad? Especially given the lengths she'd gone to just months prior to protect them and Officer Rivkin? Even staying behind and leaving NCIS for them?"

"Mossad left her to die in the desert. We rescued her. She knew whom she could trust and whom she couldn't after that. She knew we'd always have her back!" Tony exploded back with the answer before Chegwidden had time to object on ground of compound questions asked without allowing Tony time to answer.

"_Always have her back_. Interesting." Parsons repeated folding his arms once more over his chest and tracing his lower lip with the tip of his finger and a coy smile as if thinking dramatically and then launched forward with hands on hips. "Like you, in your own words, had her back when she was accused of killing Dempsey? Like you had her back when she was a fugitive on the run from US authorities after the assassinations of two FBI Agents and a Syrian colonel accused of war crimes against Israel? Like you had her back when you didn't report her for withholding vital information about a foreign operative, Officer Rivkin? Like, when you went rogue to avenge her death by going after Saleem Ulman in Somalia? And like you had her back in Berlin, Agent DiNozzo! When you went with Agent David to avenge her own father's death, by hunting down and killing Illan Bodnar, even though she was told strictly to avoid the situation as the CIA was handling it? You stood by and watched her commit murder, because, as you say, _you'll always have her back_." He nodded slowly with a smug smile.

"Objection! Badgering!" Chegwidden stood furiously fast with a deep glare across the courtroom.

"Sustained. Ask a question and let him answer." The judged look annoyed at Richard Parsons for the rampant outburst.

"The prosecution has no more questions for Special Agent DiNozzo at this time but we reserve the right to recall." Parsons' smiled and took his seat.

The man had thrown a mountain of doubt onto the validity of Tony and Ziva's marriage as legitimate in his one last closing rant. Reminding the jury that Tony had always had Ziva's back as the entire team had always had Ziva's back and that this time, with Berlin, was no different. That they were willing to do anything for her and suggesting that included, marrying her to avoid testifying against her and incriminating her.

"Defense your witness." The judge sighed, looking down and scribbling into his notebook.

Admiral Chegwidden stood and walked slowly towards Tony, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared directly into Tony's eyes with narrowed brows. "Agent DiNozzo, why were you in Berlin?" He was taking the proverbial bull by the horns and going directly in for damage control. He needed to wipe out Parsons last damning statements about Tony and Ziva's marriage being nothing but a farce.

"I was there with Agent David." Tony felt his palms start sweating and heart beating rapidly after Parson's attack.

"Why?"

"Because I love her." Tony's eyes found Ziva's and smiled softly at her behind the Defense table, admitting out loud for the first time to a courtroom filled with people exactly how he felt for Ziva.

"Where were you the night of April 23rd, 2013 after you left the club?" Chegwidden continued, knowing that the jury needed to hear this part of Tony's testimony after Parson's damning accusations.

"We went back to the hotel."

"Can you verify Agent David's whereabouts for the entire evening of April 23rd, 2013?" Chegwidden hedged carefully, hoping Tony would remember exactly what they'd rehearsed if things had gone down this path and still not give away too much about Berlin that would open the doors for Parsons to redirect.

"Yes. She was with me." Tony nodded softly.

"Agent David never left your sight?"

"No. She was with me the entire evening of April 23rd, 2013." And she was. Ziva only left his sight when he lost her the next day at the train station before finding her again once she'd caught up to Bodnar.

"Even when you went back to the hotel?"

"Yes. She never left my sight that evening." Tony's eyes latched onto Ziva's and held fast as the images of their first night together blazon through his mind.

"Not even when you slept?"

"We did not sleep." Tony shook his head softly, trying to refrain from smiling though the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"What were you doing with Agent David, Agent DiNozzo, if not sleeping?"

"Making love." Tony couldn't help but smile now seeing the unshed tears sparkling back in Ziva's eyes even though she retained her composure after Parsons damning finale. The only thing that Tony saw in Ziva's eyes in this moment was her love for him.

And there it was, the truth; out there for the first time to family, friends and strangers alike. Abby couldn't hold back her suddenly raging smile sitting next to McGee and sank her fingers deeply into his arm to refrain from crying out and jumping in joy with happiness at hearing Tony's admission. They'd all known something had changed between Tony and Ziva in Berlin and here was the truth of that evening spilling out in Tony's testimony. The only answer they'd been given previously by either Ziva or Tony was simply, things changed in Berlin. They could all guess what, but now they had it confirmed.

"All night?" Admiral Chegwidden asked with raised eyebrows at just how many hours that would be.

"All night." Tony emphasized the words slowly with a bit of pride and a growing smile. "We had a bit of catching up to do after eight years." _'Of unresolved sexual tension_.' He finished in his mind but kept the thoughts to himself even as he smiled more widely at Ziva.

"She never left your sight?"

The images of her dark eyes holding fast to his as she lay beneath him and above him and against him all night flooded his memory.

"No, she never left my sight." His voice was soft as he smiled and spoke the truth; Ziva had been the only thing on his mind that evening and the only one he could see. "Ziva was the only thing I saw that evening."


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN: Please forgive any errors. I have not slept in three days, it is now 4:00 am as I finish this and legal jargon is difficult to come by in writing even when my brain and body are not exhausted! I hope you can enjoy the continuation of the Wild West trial anyway. Love the reviews! Thank you. - Wild**_

* * *

"No further questions for Special Agent DiNozzo at this time either." Chegwidden nodded with a slight grin and turned his attention towards the judge. "We'd like to proceed with testimonies from the character witnesses, now that the Prosecution has finished with Special Agent DiNozzo."

"Fine. We're going to take a short 10 minute recess before beginning with the character witnesses for the Defendant." He banged the gavel and stood quickly making his way to chambers. It'd been a long morning already and everyone could stand for a short break to stretch their legs and relieve themselves. The jury filed out of the room and people started chatting quietly raising the volume of the room a little once they were gone.

Tony slowly stood and stretched his legs. His eyes still holding fast with Ziva's. As he walked towards her she stood to greet him as well. Without saying a word she stepped around the end of the table and when Tony opened his arms, she slid right in. Her head tucked into the side of his neck and arms wrapped around each other, they stood silently holding onto one another just needing the moment of comfort and peace.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked quietly into her ear and heard Ziva's muffled response of, _'mmhmm.'_

"Are _you_ okay?" Ziva asked pulling back slightly to look into Tony's eyes though their arms remained holding tightly.

Tony smiled at the feel of Ziva's soft hand brushing against his cheek in concern. "Mmmhmm." He answered giving her the same response she had given him. A noncommittal sound rather than the truth, which was of course, 'no.' Parsons drudging up everything ugly in their past was painful.

Ziva's smile grew hearing Tony's response and laughed softly shaking her head in understanding. "I love you." She whispered so that only he could hear.

"And I love you." Tony answered in the same whispered voice.

Those watching the exchange didn't need to be professional lip readers to understand what they had said and smiled. Gibbs, Abby, McGee, Palmer, Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. and Vance all shared a knowing glance looking on with smiles at Tony and Ziva before them who seemed completely absorbed into their own world at the moment and they were all content to let them be.

Chegwidden approached to speak with them as they would be giving character testimony in the next round

"I don't want to lose you." Ziva spoke quietly still pressed against Tony standing before the Defense table. Revenge for her father no longer seemed as important as it had at the beginning of the day. Hearing the reminders of how he had wronged her and what she stood to lose now, because of it could no longer be justified. The pedestal that she had placed her father on again after his death was severely shaken.

"You aren't going to lose me." Tony held her more tightly, reaching up to cup the side of her face and stare into her big dark eyes.

"No, but you're likely going to lose me." Ziva answered with a slight crack in her voice and blinking back her emotions. If she were convicted she would either be sent to prison for life or executed.

"That's not going to happen. Okay?" Tony pulled her into a tight hug once more, thoroughly encompassing her into his arms and kissing the side of her head. He was just as afraid of that outcome as she was. "Everything is going to work out." He added trying to reassure them both.

* * *

"The Defense calls our first Character Witness, Special Agent Timothy McGee to the stand." Chegwidden peered over the top of his glasses at the judge looking up from the file on the table before him. Slowly he removed his glasses and set them on the table as McGee approached the Witness Stand.

"State your name for the record." The bailiff stepped forward once more.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee." McGee answered swallowing hard and glancing over at Ziva behind the Defense table, now sitting there alone.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" The bailiff asked with McGee's hand on the Bible.

"I do." He nodded.

"Please take a seat." The bailiff motioned him and resumed his seat.

"How long have you known the defendant, Agent McGee?"

"Ah, since September of 2005." McGee's voice swayed slightly and then smiled at he looked at Ziva.

"So you met Agent David when she was still an Officer of Mossad? The same day that Agent DiNozzo met her?"

"Yes."

"And the three of you have been partners along with Agent Gibbs for the last nearly eight years?"

"Yes."

"So you've gotten to know both Agents David and DiNozzo pretty well, then, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, I think so. We have spent a great majority of time together the last eight years. More time then most people spend with their own families. We have become a family." McGee smiled at how much he knew about Tony and Ziva. More then they thought he did from his years of quiet observation.

"Agent DiNozzo has just announced that he and Agent David are married as of three days ago. Did you know about this sudden change in relationship status?" Chegwidden asked with a slight smile in his eyes even if he was trying to remain stoic on the outside.

"Yes, I knew. I was the Best Man at their wedding." McGee smiled proudly looking at them both across the room. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"The Prosecution in this case, believes that the marriage between Agent DiNozzo and Agent David is an elaborate rouse. Is the marriage an elaborate rouse, Agent McGee?"

"No. It's not an elaborate rouse. They really do love each other." McGee answered slowly with a smile in his eyes. Realizing even more how true that statement was after hearing Tony's emotional testimony and confession at the end of his love for Ziva and only 'seeing her.'

"No further questions at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden smiled and took his seat. He was waiting to hear what Parsons was going to use as his method of attack on the first character witness before imploring his own methods of rebuttal.

"Agent McGee," Parsons approached quietly and moved like a smooth snake posing to strike with a smile in his eyes. "Agent DiNozzo and Agent David, were married only three days ago… _after _charges were filed against Agent David. Agent DiNozzo is our star witness against Agent David as the only one present at the time Illan Bodnar was killed. That doesn't seem the least bit suspicious to you? The timing of it all?"

"No. It does not. They love each other. People fall in love and get married all the time. " McGee answered swallowing the lump in his throat and wishing he didn't have to go first. The look in the man's eyes before him was unsettling.

"Okay, then in your _expert opinion_ having been partnered with them for the last eight years, when exactly _did_ they fall in love?"

"I'm sorry?" McGee asked with narrowed brows of confusion as to what the man was asking.

"You know, when was that moment that you knew they were in love? You must have seen it being partnered with them. So when was it? When did you see and know they were madly in love with each other?"

"Objection, your Honor. Speculation?" Chegwidden looked up at the judge and Parsons took a step in between the line of sight.

"I'm trying to establish a history of the defendant's relationship with Agent DiNozzo and that their' marriage is a farce to avoid prosecution." Parsons' defended his methods.

"I'll allow it. Proceed. Answer the question, Agent McGee." The judge nodded.

"Well, there wasn't just one moment." McGee's palms began to sweat and he nervously slid his fingers back and forth over them.

"What do you mean, Agent McGee? Surely, if they really were falling in love, you could recall the moment you realized this for yourself?"

"What I meant was, I could see them falling in love for a long time though they both were denying it. I didn't want to try and read too much into the situation so I ignored it, too." McGee answered with the truth.

"All right. Then when was the moment you could no longer deny this supposed truth, about them being in love anymore? There had to have been a moment, Agent McGee?" Parsons smiled trying to belittle McGee's reactions.

"There wasn't just _one_ moment. There were two, one for each of them. I knew that Ziva was in love with Tony after an undercover assignment he was on years ago, went bad. She'd been worried about him the whole time, not knowing what was going on. There was a brief time period where we believed that Tony had been killed. I just knew from Ziva's reaction to his death that she was in love with him." McGee answered with eyes flashing to Ziva, revealing that truth to her for the first time.

"I see. And the other moment, in regards to Agent DiNozzo?"

"It was after Ziva had stayed behind in Israel. We hadn't heard from her all summer and began to get worried. We tried to find her but were told that she'd been killed on the _Damocles_. Tony just wasn't the same after. He was devastated, really. But, I knew for certain that he was in love with Ziva when we were in Somalia. Saleem had given him truth serum before he brought Ziva into the room with us. Tony was incapable of lying at the time. Ziva had asked him why we were there and Tony couldn't fight the truth. He told her, that he couldn't live without her." McGee answered and several ears in the courtroom perked up never knowing this detail before.

Gibbs eyebrows had risen quite high to hear of the conversation that had taken place amongst the three while still dealing with Saleem and Tony on truth serum.

"And there were no other witnesses to this declaration he made on truth serum, except you, Agent David and Agent DiNozzo?" Parsons argued.

"No, we were being held prisoners together in a cell. There was no one else there." McGee answered back with a bite to his tone given the grave nature of their situation at the time.

"I see. And what happened after you all returned from Somalia? Did they begin an immediate relationship?"

"No. Ziva had been through a lot. She needed time. Their relationship needed time." McGee answered softly thinking about finding Ziva in the courtyard that day outside NCIS when she'd first returned. The far off look in her eyes and her avoidance of Tony. The stare down between Tony and Ziva in the Bullpen had nearly been enough to start a fire and he'd always wondered how that moment ended after he excused himself to get a Nutter Butter.

"Why did their relationship need time?"

"It had been damaged in the year prior."

"You mean during the events surrounding Officer Rivkin's relationship with then Officer David and his death at Agent DiNozzo's hand?" Parsons provoked the Rivkin Bear once more, the first and major divide between Tony and Ziva and the even that had them all taking drastic actions to cover for each other.

"Yes."

"So when did they finally get together as a couple then, Agent McGee?"

"I think they've been working towards it the last year." McGee answered honestly in thinking about the changes he'd seen in both of them.

"Why this last year?"

"The explosion at NCIS. They were nearly killed and trapped in an elevator together. I think that made them re-evaluate their positions in each other's lives. They seemed to become even closer after that."

"But still not together?"

"No."

"So when did they get together?"

"To my knowledge, Berlin." McGee answered and swallowed hard hearing Tony's voice suddenly racing through his mind talking about dancing and then making love to Ziva all night long.

"Not until Berlin. The very place where Illan Bodnar was murdered. And you believe, this is when they finally became a couple?"

"Yes." McGee answered resolutely.

"Did you see them in Berlin as a couple?"

"No."

"So how do you know it happened in Berlin?"

"They told me before today."  
"When?"

"When they returned."

"Berlin was nearly two months ago, and yet they were married just three days ago?"

"Yes."

"And still, Agent McGee, you do not find it suspicious or odd that they only just became a couple in Berlin? With no witnesses to verify this as the truth?"

"No, I do not find it suspicious. There was a lot of unresolved tension between them prior to Berlin. It makes sense to me, that when they were finally away and alone, they would resolve it." McGee felt flustered trying to tactically answer the question and squirming at the idea of them resolving all that unresolved sexual tension he'd seen building over the years.

"Why was there tension between them recently?"

"Ziva had been upset since her father's death. Tony wanted to help her. He was worried about her and Ziva wouldn't let him in." McGee answered still feeling badly for them both and being caught in the crosshairs when Ziva had asked for his helping tracking Bodnar instead of Tony, wanting to exclude him.

"In your opinion, Agent McGee, why wouldn't she let him help?"

"I think she was afraid to. She loved Tony and didn't want to get hurt or hurt him. She was consumed by her grief, I think."

"_Consumed by her grief_… consumed enough with grief to seek revenge on her father's killer?"

"Objection! Speculation!" Chegwidden thundered again, growing tired of the young man's ambitions already opposing him during this trial.

"I withdraw the question, your Honor. The Prosecution is finished with this witness at this time." Parsons smirked at Chegwidden on his way by.

"You may step down." The judge instructed McGee.

"The Defense calls, Abigail Sciuto to the stand." Chegwidden announced and Abby stood nervously to go next, passing McGee on her way by and brushing against his arm in a silent message of support given and received.

"Please state your name for the record." The bailiff stood before her.

"Abigail Sciuto." Abby answered and swallowed hard looking out over the sea of faces before her and Ziva sitting once again, alone at the Defense table.

"Place your hand on the Bible, please. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?"

"I do." Abby nodded and removed her hand from the Bible.

"Have a seat." The bailiff added returning to his corner.

Chegwidden approached her with a warm smile seeing how nervous she was already.

"Ms. Scuito, I'm going to get right to the point here. Were you also at the wedding of Agents David and DiNozzo?"

"Yes, I was."

"Do you believe this marriage to be real?"

"Yes, I do. Tony and Ziva love each other. They are meant to be. They are soul-mates." She added with a deep smile and conviction in her voice.

"Can you please tell me about your relationship with the Defendant?"

"Ziva is like my sister. I've never had a real sister but I've been fortunate enough in my life to form deep bonds, like real sisterhood you know? With these two amazing women; Kate and Ziva." Abby smiled at Ziva and received one in return for that status of sister.

"By Kate you mean, the deceased Agent Caitlin Todd?" Chegwidden clarified for the jury to establish a history between the deceased and the living with Abby bridging the gap between the two women knowing their relationships.

"Yes. I loved Kate. I miss her all the time. In fact, I was so upset about losing her that I hated Ziva when she first came to NCIS." Abby admitted quietly and looked down shamefully at her twisting fingers before up again. "I didn't like that Ziva was taking Kate's place on our team. I tried so hard not to like Ziva but that's just impossible. Once you get to know Ziva, you fall completely in love." Abby's smile was radiant as she looked over at her friend. "She is funny and smart and fun to be around. We have these Girls Nights out and just laugh endlessly until our sides hurt. She has the best laugh and smile. Kate was like my big sister but Ziva is like my little one. I realized that by allowing myself to actually _like_ Ziva, I wasn't replacing Kate I was just making room for Ziva. And I'm so happy I did! My life just wouldn't be the same without her. Every time our team has been split up things just aren't right anymore. We're a family."

"It sounds as though you have a great relationship with Agent David. That you have an understanding and respect for her." Chegwidden smiled appreciatively at the wonderful characterization that Abby had just given of Ziva. About her mistrust of Ziva at first and revelations that once she got to know who Ziva was, 'fell in love with her as a person.' So much so, she now considered her to be a sister. Abby was doing wonders in painting a complete picture of Ziva and the misstep of prematurely judging her.

"I do and I know she respects me. A lot of people can't see past my exterior and the way I dress or wear my hair, and they judge me. But Ziva does not judge me. She loves me just the way I am and wouldn't change anything about me. And I wouldn't change anything about her." Abby smiled.

"So is it safe for me to assume that given your close relationship with Agent David, you were also a part of this wedding?"

"I was the Maid of Honor." Abby grinned widely with pride. "It really was a beautiful, beautiful ceremony. So full of love and so many smiles."

"Thank you, Ms. Sciuto. No further questions at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden smiled and took his seat.

"Prosecution, your witness." The judge coughed slightly and poured a glass of water.

"Hello, Ms. Sciuto." Parsons smiled at her walking slowing towards the Witness Stand. "I'm going to ask you the same question I asked Agent McGee. When did you first know that Agent David and Agent DiNozzo were in love?"

"When Tony was undercover." Abby answered immediately having a very clear memory of these moments. "We did not know that at the time but when it was revealed he was in a relationship, a rather committed one from what we had heard, Ziva was devastated. She didn't come right out and say it but, you know when someone you love is upset and hurt and she was."

"She was jealous of Agent DiNozzo's relationship with this other woman?"

"Yes." Abby answered quickly with a firm nod stating the facts.

"And she never told him or any of you directly how she felt?"

"No." She shook her head just as firmly with eyes looking towards Ziva.

"You're all just assuming this is the way she felt then?"

"We are professionally trained crime scene investigators, Mr. Parsons. I am trained to look at the evidence before me and see what is unseen with the naked eye. Ziva was in love with Tony and she was hurt and jealous of his relationship with Jeanne." Abby quickly put the man in his place and Gibbs couldn't help but smile proudly at her from the gallery.

"Ah huh." Agent Parsons rubbed his forehead and replaced his hand on his hip, "And Agent DiNozzo? When did you realize that he was in love with Agent David?"

"When Director Vance separated our team after Director Shepard's death." Abby gave him another quick answer, not needing to think about it. Now that they knew exactly what Parsons would be asking of them in trying to disprove their marriage, each of them had begun to think of when these moments of realization were. "Ziva was sent back to Israel and Tony was sent to a ship. When they both returned months later, we learned that Ziva was in a relationship with someone new."

"Officer Rivkin?" Parsons smiled at her seeking confirmation.

"Yes, but she did not tell us who at the time. It drove Tony crazy." She emphasized the last word. "I could tell he was upset. I think he realized how much he missed Ziva when they were apart. I knew he'd fallen completely in love with her. Just the way he looked at her or spoke to her was suddenly different." Abby smiled at Tony and saw his slow tight smile appear as well as the soft head nod that she was correct. He had fallen in love with Ziva then.

"So do you believe that Agent DiNozzo killed Officer Rivkin out his jealousy over the affections of Agent David?" Parsons paced slowly in front of Abby with hands on his hips aggressively.

"No! Never!" Abby looked horrified that this was coming up again. "Tony would never do that! He was protecting Ziva! He knew that Michael was using her and that she was going to end up getting hurt! Tony didn't kill him out of jealousy. He killed him because he had to in self-defense! Tony would do anything for Ziva! Anything to keep her safe and protected!" She blasted the man.

"I see." Parsons smiled with a soft head that he'd gotten the reaction he wanted and that was all he needed from Abby. "No further questions for this witness at this time, Your Honor." He took his seat.

"Permission to re-direct, your Honor?" Chegwidden stood knowing he needed to do damage control again with that last statement that Tony would do anything to protect Ziva. He needed to emphasize their love for each other, not their willingness to protect each other at all cost.

"Granted. Proceed." The judge sighed and waved him forth.

"In your opinion, Ms. Sciuto, being close to the both of them, if Tony and Ziva," He addressed them by name to soften them as human to the jury, "loved each other for so long, why then did they stay apart for so long? Why did they keep getting involved in other relationships?"

"Tony and Ziva have loved each other a long time. They belong together. Anyone who has been around them the last several years will tell you that. It's been infuriating at times with him pulling back and then her pulling back and it's kind of been like this crazy dance, you know?" Abby's hands were waving about in front of her motioning her actions. "The push and pull and push and pull. Like science!" Her eyes widened and smiled slightly grabbing onto something she understood to use as an example. "I'm good at science that is what I do. There is just this force and chemistry between Tony and Ziva that has always been there. Tony and Ziva are like magnets. Did you ever play with magnets as a kid?" She looked at Chegwidden who barely had time to nod before she answered herself. "I did, too! I loved to play with them and see how differently they responded when turned in certain ways. Unless they were flipped the exact right way, no matter how hard you tried, they just kept pushing away from each other. It was the same for Tony and Ziva. The connection was always right there, so close, but as long as they were facing the wrong way they were never going to come together. They had to 'flip' to come together." She smiled at Tony and Ziva with pride and excitement.

"I see." Chegwidden smiled at her and received a large one in turn from Abby. "No further questions at this time, your honor."

"Permission to re-direct, your Honor?" Parsons stood.

"Proceed." The judge motioned him forward.

"Ms. Sciuto, to your knowledge, when did they _flip_ and come together finally?"

"In Berlin." Abby smiled looking at both Tony and Ziva again with a twinkle in her eye.

"Ah huh. And how do you know this? Were you there?" He asked with arms crossed and rubbing his ear lobe as though examining her.

"No, I was not there. They told me it was then." Abby's eyebrows narrowed.

"But you have no proof they actually became something more in Berlin? For all you know, they are fabricating this lie as the truth in order for Agent DiNozzo to abstain from testifying against Agent David, isn't that right?"

"Objection! Badgering!"

"Sustained."

"Allow me to rephrase the question. Do you have any proof they became something more in Berlin?"

"No." Abby answered honestly.

"So it is possible, without proof to back up their claims, that they are lying?"

"It is possible, I guess." Abby answered with a sigh.

"No further questions, your Honor." Parsons took his seat looking happy with himself once more.

"Permission to re-direct, your Honor?"

"Granted." The judge nodded.

"Ms. Sciuto, do you believe that Agent David and Agent DiNozzo lied to you about becoming something more in Berlin?" Chegwidden approached her quickly and with purpose.

"No. I don't believe they lied to me. They wouldn't lie about this." Abby shook her head with a voice filled with emotion. "It means too much to them. Something happened between them. Everyone could feel it. Everyone could see it. The way they looked at each other, everything…was just different." And knowing now they had finally been together and in Tony's words, made love all night long, what was different was understood.

"Thank you, Ms. Sciuto. No further questions at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden smiled and went back to his seat beside Ziva looking at his notes.

"You may step down. Defense your next witness?" The judge ushered Abby away with a smile.

"The Defense calls, Anthony DiNozzo Senior."

"Oh god…" Tony mumbled quietly with eyes falling shut and a sigh. He looked up in time to see his father smiling at him as he was being sworn in.

"Mr. DiNozzo, do you believe this marriage of your son to Agent David to be real?"

"As real as any marriage can be I guess. Everyone is different."

"You've been married several times, is that correct?" Chegwidden went immediately for any potential perceived weaknesses in his testimony he thought Parsons would try to exploit.

"Yes." Anthony nodded with eyes flashing to Tony.

"And they all ended rather quickly in divorce." Chegwidden knew the answer but wanted Anthony's emotional response to impact the jury.

"No. That is not true." Anthony's eyes flashed back to Parsons with an edge to his tone that then softened, as did his features when he continued. "My first wife, Isabella, and I were married for nearly 12 years when she passed away from cancer. I did not choose to end that marriage." He added quietly with eyes once more finding Tony's.

"And the others? Did you choose to end them?"

"Yes. They were a way to fill the loneliness in my life. I loved them but it was never the same as with my first wife." Anthony smiled at both Tony and Ziva, seeing in them what he saw with his first wife and Tony's mother. "She was the love of my life."

"No further questions at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden smiled and took his seat.

"Prosecution, your witness." The judge called Parsons forth.

"Are you surprised, Mr. DiNozzo, that your son and Agent David were married only three days ago without ever having officially been in a relationship according to their co-workers?"

"No. I'm not surprised. I knew that my son was in love with that gorgeous creature the moment I laid eyes upon Ziva for the first time and learned that Junior had never asked her out. For my son, to not ask her out meant that she was different for him. That she was special. He was afraid and only one thing can make a man afraid of a woman like that. Love." Anthony smiled at Tony and then Ziva.

Tony was surprised to hear his father's remarks. How well his father had understood him and his situation and feelings regarding Ziva all these years, though he never said anything to him about it. Just gently prodded him along to ask Ziva out.

"And you agree with everyone else that your son, Agent DiNozzo, just suddenly overcame his fear of being with Agent David in Berlin which led to them being married so quickly? Just three days ago?"

"I knew it was only a matter of time before he finally took the plunge. Ziva is the love of my son's life. I have no doubts about that. He has been falling in love with her for eight years. There was nothing _quick_ about their relationship, son." He chuckled with a smile, as did everyone in the gallery. Anthony DiNozzo Senior was charming the courtroom with his smile, confidence and talk of love.

"Except for how quickly they got married once charges were filed. No further questions, your Honor." Parsons took his seat again.

"You may step down, Mr. DiNozzo." The judge waved his hand excusing Anthony.

Both Ziva and Tony smiled widely at Anthony as he walked towards them to resume his seat again in the gallery with the others.

"Defense, next witness?" The judge prompted them to keep it moving as it had already been a long day.

"The Defense calls, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs to the stand."

Gibbs approached the Witness Stand and stood quietly while the bailiff took his Oath.

"State your name for the record."

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"And do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do." Gibbs nodded removing his hand from the Bible.

"Take a seat."

"Special Agent Gibbs, I'm going to get right to the point. Do you believe that the marriage between your Agents David and DiNozzo is real?"

"I do." Gibbs answered with a soft dip in his voice and head nod with a slowly spreading smile. His hands were neatly folded in his lap with thumbs tapping against each other and the image of calm.

"As their Team Leader for the last nearly eight years, you have a pretty good understanding of what makes your team tick, I'd imagine. Is that a safe assumption?"

"It is." Gibbs nodded with the same tight smile and saying very little.

"How have Agents David and DiNozzo worked together these past eight years?"

"It's been a journey for them to find their groove, butt hey know each other so well now, they can read each others thoughts and actions before making a move, anticipating what the other will do. It's a bond and a trust they've formed along the way. They are two of the best Agents I've ever had the privilege of working with." Gibbs surprised both Tony and Ziva with his answer and the smile he gave them both at the end.

"Being that you worked so closely with them, you must have seen their relationship turning into something more over the years?"

"I did." Gibbs nodded softly with a slight smile.

"And yet they never dated?"

"I'm partially responsible for that I'd imagine. They were following my Rules."

"Your Rules, Agent Gibbs?"

"For my team. Rule #12 is '_never date a co-worker_."

"Ah ha. So you weren't upset then when suddenly they announced they were getting married?"

"I have a rules against dating, not getting married." Gibbs answered with a tight smile and a soft chuckle rang through the gallery.

"Can you explain that logic and reasoning for us, Special Agent Gibbs?"

"If you casually date a co-worker, you risk the potential of breaking up a great team. But if you're serious about the other person and in love with them, want a life with them, you won't just date. You'll marry them because you recognize it is something more: something special and to be treated with care. That is what DiNozzo and David have, something very special." He answered quietly and speaking slowly and thoughtfully, smiling at them both in the end.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. No further questions at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden stepped away, knowing Parsons would undoubtedly rip Gibbs to shreds and they'd need to rebuttal.

"Prosecution, your witness." The judge motioned him.

"How long have you been a field agent, Agent Gibbs?" Parsons stood before Gibbs, unafraid of the silver-haired man before him.

"Nearly twenty years." Gibbs shifted in his seat knowing the man was going to attack.

"That is quite an impressive record as an investigator. You take protecting your team very seriously, don't you, Agent Gibbs?"

"I am their Team Leader. That is my job." Gibbs answered him coolly.

"You lost a member of your team, Special Agent Caitlin Todd, is that correct?" Parsons went for the most immediate and obvious statement of how Gibbs had failed to protect his team in the past with Kate's death.

"Yes." Gibbs nodded sadly.

"She was killed by a rogue Mossad Operative Ari Haswari. Correct?"

"Yes."

"According to your official report on the incident here, Officer Haswari was targeting the women in your life because of his own vendetta against you, isn't that right, Agent Gibbs?"

"Yes." Gibbs felt his anger already rising at the method this man was taking and understanding it all too well having been on the other side of the interrogation table and using someone's emotions against them.

"Because he knew that your wife and child had been killed by a sniper's bullet, isn't that correct?"

"Yes." Gibbs answered staring directly at Parsons, glaring into his eyes that he wasn't going to back away even if the man persisted down this path.

"And Officer Haswari received this information about your history from a dossier done on you by his Control Officer, correct?"

"Yes."

"Agent David was his Control Officer then, correct?"

"Yes."

"So Agent David, gave her brother and rogue operative Officer Haswari the information, that you believed according to the report, led to Agent Todd's death?" Parsons was indirectly holding Ziva responsible for Kate's death to the jury.

"Yes."

"And yet you have worked with Agent David for the last eight years?" Parsons' eyebrow slanted demonstrating his theatrical abilities to display emotions he wanted the jury to feel. In this case: disbelief.

"Yes."

"Even coming to her rescue on numerous occasions isn't that true?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust Agent David?"

"Yes. With my life." Gibbs eyes flashed to Ziva with a soft smile and head nod.

"Have you always trusted Agent David, Agent Gibbs?"

"Not when we first met, no. I did not trust her." Gibbs answered honestly with eyes slowly turning back towards Parsons.

"But you trusted her enough to let you join your team, just weeks after the investigation closed with Officer Haswari?"

"Yes."

"What changed? How did she earn your trust so quickly, Agent Gibbs?"

"She helped us catch Ari. Even though, he was her brother, she did the right thing." Gibbs told the truth in a round about way.

"Tell me, Agent Gibbs, were you aware that Agent David was actually ordered by her father, Director David, to hunt down and kill Officer Haswari after he became rogue?" Parsons asked and a few small gasps of astonishment could be heard coming from the gallery.

"I am aware, yes." Gibbs nodded bouncing his foot on his heel once with an internal sigh that this man knew this information and where this line of questioning was undoubtedly headed.

Parsons theatrical responses to Tony's answers to these questions now made more sense. Parsons believed he held information about Ziva's 'duplicitous' nature that they did not.

"Did then Mossad Officer David follow those orders Agent Gibbs and kill her brother Ari?"

"No." Gibbs answered his direct question smoothly. Ziva hadn't killed Ari on 'orders.'

"May I remind you that you are under Oath, Agent Gibbs?"

"No, then Officer David did not follow those _orders_ to kill her brother." Gibbs answered again, hoping to god that Parsons did just flat out ask if Ziva killed Ari. Right now Gibbs was still able to tell the 'truth' by answering the question pertaining to her following her father's orders.

"Were you aware that then Mossad Officer David was also ordered to gain your trust by killing her brother and infiltrate herself into NCIS for Mossad?" Parsons asked definitely and another soft gasp rose from the gallery.

Ziva felt her skin begin to crawl. Only she and Gibbs had ever discussed these orders. No one else on their' team, not even Tony, knew of this information. These orders from her father were another secret shame. Another reason why, she had told her father he was beyond forgiveness of his sins and another reason why, avenging his death and losing her future was making less and less sense to her now.

"I am aware, yes." Gibbs nodded calmly and stunned not only those others in the gallery but also their team. Tony, McGee and everyone else sat with mouths hanging slightly open and wide-eyed to hear first of Ziva's orders and then that Gibbs knew about them and was so calm.

"And when did you become aware of these orders, Agent Gibbs?" Parsons folded his arms over his chest again, feeling slightly deflated that Gibbs knew of these orders. He was obviously hoping to steal the show and stun Gibbs with the 'truth.'

"May of 2009." Gibbs remembered that time with a pain in his heart. His team had never been further apart. Saying goodbye to Ziva at the tarmac in Tel-Aviv had been incredibly difficult, but finding out that she supposedly died just a week later on the _Damocles_ had plagued him for months that summer until he'd found her and brought her home.

"So nearly three and a half years after Agent David had become part of your team?" Parsons seemed to perk up at this information.

"Yes."

"Who told you?"

"Director Leon Vance." Gibbs answered quietly and all eyes in the gallery flashed to Vance, including Ziva who had wheeled around to look behind her in disbelief that he'd known. His suddenly sending her back to Israel and dissolving the Liaison position his first day on the job, now made more sense. He didn't trust her, at all.

"Why?"

"I don't know why, you'll have to ask him." Gibbs answered with a soft sigh shifting in his seat again.

"Did you ever discuss these orders with Agent David?" Parsons asked and everyone was eager to hear this answer.

"Yes, I did. After we rescued her in Somalia and brought her _home_." Gibbs emphasized the last word with eyes glancing at Ziva, giving her a small encouraging smile. "She and I had a conversation about the orders her father had given."

"And what did Agent David say for herself about these orders?"

"That she could never follow an _order_ given by her father to kill her own brother." Gibbs answered remembering that conversation with Ziva well and seeing for the first time, the tears in her eyes that he had doubted her reasoning for killing her brother.

"But she accepted these orders. Did she tell you why?"

"She was trying to protect her brother. She didn't want someone else blindly following orders. If he was innocent, she wanted to save him." Gibbs answered and felt the collective sigh coming from their corner of the courtroom.

"But he wasn't innocent?"

"No. He was not innocent." Gibbs spoke slowly and with a pained expression; not for Ari but for Ziva in realizing that truth.

"And then?"

"Once Ziva knew that Ari was guilty of the crimes, she helped me to catch him." Gibbs answered though didn't divulge just how.

"And because of this, she had earned your trust?" Parsons asked still incredulous.

"Yes. He was her brother. She did the right thing, even when it hurt her. She had my trust." Gibbs answered with eyes held fast to Ziva and no one else, reassuring her that he still felt this way.

"And you never doubted her loyalty to you or NCIS?"

"No." Gibbs answered honestly and even surprised Ziva with his answer.

"Not even when she withheld information in regards to Mossad Officer Rivkin?" Parsons asked in continued disbelief that the man before him could never have a moment of doubting Ziva David's loyalty to him or NCIS after all that she had done to suggest otherwise.

"No." Gibbs answered again more firmly.

"Why not?"

"I don't think that had anything to do with her loyalty to Mossad or NCIS. I think she was trying to protect someone she cared about." Gibbs answered and saw the tears welling in Ziva's eyes to hear that truth from him. That he understood that she wasn't intentionally trying to betray him or NCIS with her actions regarding Michael, but that she was simply trying to protect someone she cared about.

"That seems to be a theme within your team, Agent Gibbs. Protecting the people you care about above and beyond boundaries of the law. Agent DiNozzo testified to doing the same thing; giving Agent David the benefit of the doubt and time to explain her actions when he should have reported her immediately for harboring a foreign operative wanted in an investigation. Tell me, Agent Gibbs, do you really believe that the marriage between Agents David and DiNozzo to be real?"

"I do." Gibbs answered the question again, feeling his gut roll at hearing Parsons accusation about the integrity of his team and their motives.

"When were you informed they were getting married?" Parsons asked happy with the implication about Team Gibbs he had just laid down. That they were all rogues, willing to do whatever they could, even breaking the law repeatedly to protect those they cared about.

"Six days ago." Gibbs answered with a tight smile, remembering that day well. It had certainly been full of surprises and left little time to arrange a wedding.

"You were not surprised with that news given they'd never been in a relationship prior to this announcement?" Parsons asked the same question of Gibbs that Chegwidden had asked but twisted it slightly with tone and meaning.

"They were in a relationship, Mr. Parsons. They've been partners in the field for nearly eight years. That's more of a marriage than most marriages. You have to trust one another with your lives. I cannot say the same for some of my ex-wives." A soft chuckle rang through the gallery with his comment and a smirk from the twice-divorced judge.

"So as partners, they feel they are responsible for each other's lives? Correct?" Parsons smiled at Gibbs response, okay with taking the jab from Gibbs as it set him up for another blow.

"Yes." Gibbs nodded softly seeing where this was heading already.

"So there is a possibility that as partners they have married strictly in order to protect Agent David's life with Agent DiNozzo being able to, Plead the Fifth to avoid incriminating her for the crimes which she accused?"

"Objection! Calls for a conclusion!" Chegwidden could hardly contain the annoyance in his tone as he stood defiantly.

"Your Honor, Agent Gibbs opened this line of questioning by stating the partners feel responsible for each other's lives. Given he is an expert investigator after twenty-years in the field, I'd like him to give his opinion on the matter." Parsons reasoned logically with a soft smile to the judge.

"Sustained. I'll allow it on the grounds that Agent Gibbs opinion is considered on this matter given his history and profession. Answer the question, Agent Gibbs."

"I suppose there is a possibility." Gibbs answered quietly while internally sighing. Parsons was good at constantly raising suspicions as to the validity of their marriage. He'd ended each cross-examination thus far with putting those doubts into the jury's minds.

"No further questions at this time for Special Agent Gibbs, your Honor." Parsons smiled at him taking his seat behind the Prosecution table.

"Permission to re-direct, your Honor." Chegwidden stood quickly, once again on damage control.

"Granted." The judge called him forward with a quick swipe of his fingers.

Chegwidden approached Gibbs glancing over the jury and then back to the man before him.

"Special Agent Gibbs, in your _expert investigative opinion_ that is being called upon, do you believe that Agent DiNozzo married Agent David strictly to protect her from incriminating testimony for the crimes of which she is accused?"

"I do not. They love each other. They have loved each other a long time. I've watched them falling in love like everyone else for the last eight years." Gibbs answered honestly. It was the first time that he was ever acknowledging with those words, that Tony and Ziva love each other and that's he's been watching it happen like everyone else all of these years.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. No further questions for this witness at this time, your Honor." Chegwidden smiled happily as he returned to the Defense table to gather his notes.

"You may step down." The judge motioned Gibbs he was dismissed. "Defense, your next witness?"

"The Defense calls upon a Dr. Donald Mallard." Chegwidden turned around to look at the gallery but Ducky was not there. "I'm sorry, your Honor but Dr. Mallard seems to be-"

"Here!" Ducky burst through the back doors of the courtroom out of breath and clearly rushing. "So sorry to be late. I was working on finishing a case and then stuck in traffic." He tossed his jacket and hat at Palmer in the gallery on the way by. "Trying to navigate Dupont Circle during rush hour is simply murder. It is amazing to me that the people of this country still do not know how to use a roundabout properly. One would think that driving on it daily, they would learn."

Everyone's eyebrows rose a little at the choice of Ducky's words considering they were in fact, in the middle of the beginning proceedings of a murder trial.

"Dr. Mallard, are you ready?" The judge asked with obvious annoyance in his voice that Ducky had been late to the proceedings.

"I am." Ducky nodded quietly and stood to take his Oath, smoothing his hand over his tuffs of hair sticking out from where he'd quickly removed his hat upon entering.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Dr. Donald Mallard."

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?" The bailiff asked with Ducky's right hand raised and left hand on the Bible.

"I do." Ducky nodded with a large smile at Ziva.

Chegwidden approached with a soft smile, "Dr. Mallard, you are an expert in Psychological Human Behaviors and have been called upon frequently by several law enforcement agencies to help solve crimes or track criminals based on your profiles of their characters, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"And you have known the defendant for quit some time, nearly eight years. Is that right?"

"Yes. I have known Ziva that long."

"Tell me about the beginning of your relationship with Ziva."

"We were all still recovering from the sudden shock of losing Caitlin and the horrors that Ari had brought upon our lives. Ziva was the spark our little team needed to breathe life back into us again. A fiery spark at that. She was an outsider, tough and impenetrable on the outside but I could see a softness in her eyes and the way she spoke when alone in quiet moments that revealed her inner vulnerability. On could see that she was personally hurting when she arrived on our team, though she tried desperately to hide it. The pain of losing her brother was there. I'm sure she felt she could not share it with us given what Ari had done. We would not have been sympathetic or understanding and so she kept this quiet pain to herself. It was during our very first case working together that Ziva saved my life. After, we formed our own unique sort of relationship where I've become a grandfather of sort. We can empathize with one another about the difficulties of moving to this country and being the 'foreigner.' The more I got to know Ziva, the more delighted I was for her to join our team. She fit in quite well with our group." Ducky smiled at her softly. "I believe that Ziva had finally found a home with us over the years and she had been a true blessing to us all."

"Dr. Mallard, what is your professional opinion on the relationship between Agent David and Agent DiNozzo?" Chegwidden asked quietly with a small smile.

"I believe they are a perfect match. The complexity of their sordid history separately and together bonds them in a way that most couples will never experience. They compliment one another in several ways. Watching them fall in love over the years has been a wonderful and sometimes tragic and painful journey for those of us who have been forced to stand on the side and watch it happening. So easy for us on the outside to see how very deeply that Anthony and Ziva felt for one another and yet, unable to tell each other or act upon it. Their love did not come easily. It was perhaps, always there, but given what each had been through, they were terrified of making that final commitment for fear of losing each other." Ducky answered with such a rhythmic response and tone that he had people in the gallery nodding along in agreement to his assessment. "I have never seen them happier then I have when they are together. The light in their eyes and their smiles cannot hide their true feelings for one another. They are madly in love."

"Thank you, Dr. Mallard. I have no further questions at this time." Chegwidden smiled taking his seat.

"Prosecution, your witness." The judge jotted down a quick note and looked up at Parsons.

"Dr. Mallard, in your professional psychological opinion, you do not question how quickly that Agents DiNozzo and David were married? Just three days ago?" Parsons was persistent in trying to prove that this marriage was one of convenience rather than love.

"No, it makes perfect sense to me given the events of what transpired between them in Berlin." Ducky chuckled softly to himself with a smile and a slight hint of mischief in his voice.

"So you believe that they were together in Berlin as Agent DiNozzo claims. That is when they _finally_ consummated this relationship that has been growing for eight years?" Parsons asked tilting his head to the side gauging Ducky's expressions.

"I do. Yes, absolutely. The change between them after was significant." Ducky smiled with a knowing gaze and nodded softly.

"See, I have a difficult time believing that these events actually occurred for the _first_ time in Berlin and not _after_ the charges were filed against Agent David. The timing seems far too convenient as with their marriage. Have you seen any physical proof to substantiate Agent DiNozzos claims of what transpired between himself and Agent David in Berlin, or to validate their sudden marriage?" Parsons once again tried to sway the jury that Berlin was a fabricated story created to help sell their marriage.

"Yes, I do, actually." Ducky stunned everyone with his answer though he remained sitting with a coy smile.

"You have physical proof to validate what transpired between them in Berlin? Before the charges were filed against her?" Parson's eyebrows narrowed.

"I do." Ducky smiled more widely reaching into his suit jacket and producing a folded piece of paper that he kept in his hand. "A couple of weeks ago, Ziva came to see me for a Head Cold. Poor thing, couldn't breathe with swollen sinuses, nauseated and felt feverish. Her combined symptoms seemed to be just a touch of the flu. Nerves and stress perhaps given the situation developing around her. But given this was Ziva, who is nearly never ill in all the years I have known her, I thought it was a bit strange. I drew some blood as a precaution, just wanting to make sure that she hadn't picked up anything too serious during her recent travels and I learned exactly what had been making her ill." Ducky smiled with bright eyes flashing to Ziva who seemed nervous and confused about where Ducky was going with this.

"Please Dr. Mallard, inform us all of this proof as the suspense is killing us?" Parsons motioned him with a wave of his hand at Ducky's dramatic pause and clearly annoyed.

"Your proof, Mr. Parsons, that Anthony and Ziva's marriage is real, and that they are in love and did in fact consummate their relationship in Berlin on or near April 23rd of this year." Ducky handed over the document to Parsons with a knowing twinkle in his eye staring directly at Ziva. "Ziva is nearly two months pregnant."


End file.
